Highlights- means and methods of biological war against agricultural crops have been devised and tested at field test site andapproved during the Korean war;- this is a low-tech, but dangerous war, means of which don't have reliable conventional control.Relevance. The number of people who have fallen victims to famine is comparable to that the number of people who have suffered from nuclear weapons use. However, the means and methods of biological war against agricultural crops almost haven’t been dwelled upon in Russian scientific publications. This dulls our sense of danger and makes us inferior to foreign experts in this field.Purpose of the study is to consider the historical aspects of means of biological war against agricultural crops and conventional control tools that exist nowadays.Study base sources. The author has studied the Khabarovsk trials dedicated to crimes committed by Japanese military men; Report of the International Scientific Commission for the investigation of the facts concerning bacterial warfare in Korea and China (1952); official declassified documents on the United States biological weapons program, books and articles retrieved from full-text English scientific journals available on the Internet.Materials and methods. Analytical. The author used suggestions of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).Discussion. The USA, Germany and Japan have been leaders in the development of biological weapons of this type since 1940–1950. Means and methods of war against agricultural crops are still powerful. This paper has thoroughly dwelled on this topic. Current trends have turned the situation in this field into chaos, the range of pathogens and their potential targets is constantly widening, there are no reliable conventional control tools.Conclusions. As we actually don’t fully understand the ways and methods of war against agricultural crops, we can miss the very onset of such a war and we won’t be able to detect the enemy. That is why we should broaden our knowledge in the field; this topic should be studied at the universities. Monocropping countries with poor farming techniques that grow mostly one-year-old plants are more vulnerable to biological weapons damage effects.
Highlights In 1941–1945 experts of Research Chemical Institute (RCI RAPW) and Central Military Chemical Test Site (CMCTS) created brand-new samples of chemical protection devices (respirators, protective suits, chemical-warfare decontamination agents) and particular weapons (smoke- producing mixtures, flame throwers, etc.). The inventions of RCI RAPW and CMCTS ensured the Soviet troops protection and became the main reason why Germany abandoned the idea of using chemical weapons at the Eastern front line.Relevance. The development of chemical protection devices and particular weapons was crucial during the Great Patriotic War. We should never forget people and institutions that contributed greatly to that. The purpose of the study is to provide a retrospective view of the contributions of RCI RAPW and CMCTS experts to the creation and development of a wide range of chemical protection devices, smoke-producing, flame-throwing and incendiary agents in pre-war period and during the Great Patriotic War (GPW). Study base sources. The study was based on the archive documents of the 33 Central Scientific Research Test Institute of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, memoirs of the involved persons and scientific publications on military chemistry history. Research methods. The study employed an integrated approach combining analysis of military-historical literature and archival data. Results. The authors of this article have found out that in pre-war period and during the Great Patriotic War the experts of RCI RAPW and CMCTS developed:- brand-new layouts of filter and self-contained respirators with enhanced protection;- brand-new skin protection agents and decontamination methods;- efficient smoke-producing and flame-throwing incendiary mixtures. Conclusions. The conducted analysis has led the authors to the following conclusions:- Dedication of RCI RAPW and CMCTS experts in pre-war period and during the Great Patriotic War led to that RAPW had the most efficient samples of smoke-producing and flame-throwing incendiary mixtures as well as enhanced protection devices, which contributed greatly to the Victory over German Nazi invaders;- The inventions of RCI RAPW and CMCTS ensured the Soviet troops protection and became the main reason why Germany abandoned the idea of using chemical weapons at the Eastern front line.
HighlightsThe use of artificial intelligence has great potential for predicting the toxic properties of new little-studied chemical compounds, reducing the time and financial costs associated with identifying the risks of possible threats.Relevance. Mycotoxins, which are secondary metabolites of mold fungi, represent one of the most significant factors of chronic risk associated with food products. Their danger exceeds the threat posed by synthetic pollutants, plant toxins, food additives, and pesticide residues. However, for many mycotoxins, the full toxicological profile has not yet been established, and traditional analysis methods remain labor-intensive, costly, and insufficiently effective. This makes the search for new approaches to assess their danger and control highly relevant.Purpose of the study is to study the toxicological profile of mycotoxins produced by the pathogenic fungus Albifimbria verrucaria and to determine their level of danger using chemoinformatics and machine learning.Study base sources. Analysis of scientific literature available through open Russian and English-language Internet resources.Method. In silico methods were applied to analyze the toxicological profile of mycotoxins, enabling the identification of high-risk compounds. These methods prioritize substances for further in-depth toxicological assessment, significantly reducing the time and resources required for research.Results and Discussion. The study results showed that approximately 50% of mycotoxins produced by mold fungi belong to hazard classes I and II. At the same time, a significant portion of these compounds remains outside the control zone, despite their potential threat to living organisms. This highlights the need for more thorough study and monitoring of such substances.Conclusions. The obtained data confirm the importance of developing and implementing modern systems for monitoring and regulating mycotoxins, especially for poorly studied and new compounds. The use of chemoinformatic methods makes it possible to effectively identify the most hazardous substances and focus efforts on their research, thereby enhancing food safety and reducing risks to human and animal health.
Human genome editing methods (“genetic scissors“) may be possibly used for biological attacks of various biological targets, including humans.We should set up an international surveillance scheme to control the use of this method and to detect cases of hidden use of these destructive agents created on its basis.Relevance. Human genome editing has been implemented into clinical practice since 2021 to cure different, mainly hereditary diseases. This method is quite promising and in the long run it can be used to cure contagious and somatic diseases as well.The purpose of the study is to evaluate possible risks of misuse for this method.The source base of the study. Scientific publications and research papers, available in PubMed.Research method. Analytical.Results. It has been shown that genome editing systems can block, remove or restore its own genes or human genome fragments. They can be employed to destroy whole ecosystems, to develop brand-new massive biological weapons to kill the population of certain countries. They are even able to change an evolutionary path of our species, and this may lead to its total extinction within several generations. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA has a particular focus on the development of tools that can identify the human genome editing, block possible changes and eliminate the consequences.Conclusions. The fact that DARPA is so interested in tools mentioned above proves that genome editing is anymore not an experimental tool. Experts who realize the state of things in terms of biological warfare nowadays are concerned with the possible misuse of this tool. The use of genome editing should be regulated by a special Protocol to Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction. Because this protocol doesn’t exist yet, the national regulatory authorities are obliged to establish limits for use of products that are based on these methods. They also should be able to prevent its misuse.
Highlights- VEREX experts’ panels (1991–1993) and Ad Hoc group (AHG) (1994–2001) were created to work out a legally binding document (the so-called Protocol) to Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction. Their activity was stipulated by the necessity to take some steps to strengthen biological weapons non-proliferation regime;- The Protocol was blocked by the USA in 2001, however, nowadays there is a necessity to use some of its articles and guidelines to verify Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.Relevance. Caused by the unreliability of international control over the spread of biological weapons, the emergence of new biological weapons of destruction of people and types of biological weapons.Purpose of the study is to analyze the current state of things in terms of BTWC, and to find ways to update and improve previous research methodological tools for BTWC verification.Study base sources. The authors have analyzed the sources, available in PubMed, Google Scholar, UN, National Electronic Library (Russia) databases.Method. Analytical method has been employed.Results. The studies have proved that the unified text of BTWC check protocol, prepared by Ad Hoc group contains a number of statements and practical guidelines that could be implemented by state-parties taking into account modern political, scientific, and technological circumstances. Moreover, if we return to the Act of the year 1994 with further discussion of the possibility to create a verification procedure, this will strengthen BTWC and boost its institutional capacity.Conclusion. Practical efficiency of measures proposed by VEREX and AHG experts give state parties some reasons for conducting a detailed analysis of possible consequences of implementation of these measures in modern circumstances and for discussion of possible update of existing tools during the meeting of working group on BTWC strengthening during upcoming 10th review conference for state parties.
Highlights During the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) the Military Academy of Chemical Defence (nowadays the Nuclear Biological Chemical Defence Military Academy Named after Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko (Kostroma)) 1428 competent chemical corps officers. Academy inventions gave the opportunity to create 17 new samples of chemical protection means and to write 17 manuals on chemical corps tactics, which had been actually applied in combat operations. Relevance. It is crucial to analyze the contribution of the Academy to the Victory, if we want to preserve historical memory and prevent history distortion. The academy successfully combines learning process, research and practical application of its inventions in combat conditions. Purpose of the study is to systematize and analyze the contribution of Military Academy of Chemical Defence to the military staff training, chemical protective means development and their practical application during the Great Patriotic War. Study base sources. The authors of this paper have analyzed the records of the central archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, orders and guidelines of people's commissariat of defence of the Soviet Union for the period of 1941–1945, Chemical Corps reports and dispatches from the battlefield, academy graduates recollections and photographic documents of the war period. Method. Descriptive method. Results. The authors of this paper have found out that 93% of people who graduated from the academy were sent to the front line and 47% out of this number have been awarded with state rewards. It have been confirmed that 23 academy inventions were introduced into military practice in 1942–1944. The Soviet Union troops were quite prepared for the chemical war that is why the Wehrmacht was afraid to use poison gas against them.Conclusions. In the war period the academy ensured regular training of chemical troops experts, created powerful chemical protection system for the Red Army of Workers and Peasants of the Soviet Union, helped to frustrate the plans of the enemy in terms of chemical warfare agents use and saved many thousands of Soviet soldiers.
Highlights Branch of the 48 Central Research Institute (Kirov) of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation was one of the leading research institutions in the Soviet Union that dealt with dangerous and hazardоus contagious diseases and tried to protect the Red Army of Workers and Peasants troops from the biological weapons used by the enemy during the Great Patriotic War. Relevance. Scientific publications and papers that are related to epidemic prosperity state at the front line and rear areas the Great Patriotic War neglect the importance of military microbiologists. That is unfair because they promptly developed product manufacturing procedures that permitted to create vaccines against dangerous and particularly dangerous infections. They also produced first antibiotics in the Soviet Union. The purpose of the study is to inform about the contribution of the Soviet military microbiologists to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Study base sources. The authors have analyzed the documents of the Central State Archive of the Kirov region, disclosed archive records of the 48 Central Research Institute (Kirov) of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, as well as publications, available in Russian e-library database. Methods. The authors have resorted to common scientific generalization methods and chronological and comparative methods during the study. They also have analyzed archive documents and have provided an evaluation of the described events from a historical point of view. Results. The authors of this article have detected a sequence of events that led to relocation of a military scientific institution during the Great Patriotic War (the Sanitary engineering institution of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants) was relocated from Gorodomlya Island to Kirov. The authors have studied the functioning of this institution in this period. The experts of this institution developed unique product manufacturing procedures for bacteriophages and antibiotics (penicillin and streptomycin); created second to none dry live vaccines (against tularemia, plague and brucellosis). All inventions were immediately introduced to troops and saved thousands of Soviet soldiers. When the war ended, all these inventions were handed to the Ministry of Health of the Soviet Union. Conclusions. The Soviet military microbiologists made a great breakthrough in terms of manufacturing procedures of bacterial and fungi cultivation, developed an unique equipment that permitted to use raw materials available in the USSR. These components were crucial for the development of key antibiotics of that time penicillin and streptomycin. The contribution of the Soviet military microbiologists to the development of vaccines against dangerous pathogenes and potential biological weapon agents is priceless. The director of the Main Military Medical Department of the Red Army colonel general of the Medical Corps E.I. Smirnov was the leader who contributed greatly to the development of military microbiology.
Highlights- nowadays it is impossible to maintain contaminated vehicles and equipment in special decontamination centers nearthe battle line due to far-ranging precision weapons and drones;- promising on-board sets and special treatment devices should be more independent and powerful than previous ones(IDTS, SST, DK-4) and be able to work directly at the lines of combat contact.Relevance. The main shortcomings on-board special treatment sets and devices are low special treatment rate (0,5–1,0 m2/min),considerable physical efforts during treatment, restricted list of used solvents (formulae) and ways of special treatment, as well as lack of sanitizing for armaments and military and special purpose equipment beyond special decontamination centers.The purpose of the study is to find out possible ways to enhance the efficiency and improve functionality of on-board special treatment devices employed for armaments and military and special purpose equipment and personnel decontamination (sanitizing).Study base sources. The authors have analyzed Russian and foreign open-source data on the topic in question.Method. Analytical method has been employed.Discussion. The analysis of key performance parameters for on-board special treatment devices, employed for armaments and military and special purpose equipment that are operated by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and its foreign counterparts has confirmed that either the existing special treatment sets should be improved or a new (unified) on-board special treatment device (set) should be developed which can provide a full special treatment of armaments and military and special purpose equipment with water-based, solvent and foam solutions as well as their sanitizing in summer, autumn and spring.Conclusions. It is worth to develop a promising on-board special treatment set for armaments and military and special purpose equipment if degassing (decontaminating), deactivating, disinfecting solutions and solvents are going to be used. If the foam formulae are going to be used, then a fluid pump should be integrated into the system. It should be able to maintain pressure of at least 14 kgs/m2. Besides, a foam maker should be implemented, the geometrical properties of which can defined with the help of jet blower design theory.
Highlights- the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic was based on falsified assumptions about vaccines and the suppression of existing knowledge about immunity to coronavirus infections;- global measures against COVID-19, contrary to expectations, were often implemented without accounting for known immunological risks, necessitating a revision of strategies for future pandemics;- russian immunology of dangerous infections, judging by publications from its leading figures, has failed to learn any lessons from the mistakes made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relevance. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed systemic flaws in infectious disease epidemiology and immunology – issues that were either previously unknown or, more troublingly, deliberately suppressed for non-scientific reasons. Purpose of the study is to identify unresolved and suppressed scientific issues left by the COVID-19 pandemic. Study base sources. Review and problem-focused articles in peer-reviewed English-language scientific journals, accessible via the Internet. Method. Analytical. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Over 3,000 scientific publications on the features of the epidemic process, disease immunology, and vaccination complications were identified. Of these, 114 review articles were selected and analyzed. Discussion. Coronavirus infections were well-studied prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, during global efforts to combat it, previously accumulated knowledge was disregarded. The investigation into the mechanisms of the epidemic was reduced to political blame-shifting. The origin of the virus remains unknown. Instead of genuine disease immunology, physicians were presented with a surrogate model that falsified the role of antibodies. Immunological phenomena characteristic of coronavirus infections–such as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), pathogenic priming, and antigenic imprinting–were deliberately ignored. The toxic and prion-like properties of the spike protein, used as the antigenic component in vector-based mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, etc.) and adenoviral vaccines (Oxford–AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, etc.), were concealed from recipients. Under current regulatory frameworks, these products are classified as somatic gene therapy drugs, not vaccines. No scientifically grounded public health measures were developed in advance to counter the pandemic. Conclusions. The pandemic was not only a public health catastrophe but also–more dangerously–a catastrophic collapse of the scientific knowledge applied. This knowledge failed to align with the realities of COVID-19 and will remain inadequate for future pandemics due to an obsessive focus on vaccination, which was justified through falsification, fraud, and violations of laws and constitutional principles. A critical reassessment of the mistakes made during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential, along with the development of a new scientific foundation to address future pandemics and biocrimes.
HighlightsIt is necessary to improve methods that permit to eliminate radioactive substances from surfaces that are being contaminated as a result of nuclear industry activity.Relevance. In the course of development, conventional decontamination methods have reached their potential technological limit and nowadays may not totally meet the needs of Russian NBC Protection Troops in technological technical, economic and ecological aspects.Purpose of the study is to evaluate advantages of laser electromagnetic emission in terms of contaminated surfaces deactivation.Materials and methods. The authors of this paper have analyzed the English language sources available on Google Scholar. Particular–to general analysis was employed. The article has addressed electromagnetic emission laws.Discussion. The essence of thermal decontamination methods is that contaminated surface is treated with energy flows of high intensity in the form of infrared light emissions or hyperthermal gas flow, etc. This is the basic premise for deactivation of items by hyperthermal impact or electromagnetic emission to be exact. It should emphasized that deactivation by laser permits to decrease radiation burden for military personnel as well as helps to return to production expensive equipment used to eliminated the consequences of technological disasters. Considering the mentioned above, we should think over the possibility and necessity of use of lasers to decontaminate armaments and military and special purpose equipment. The optical fiber lasers can be easily integrated into processing lines for decontamination devices due to the fact that a laser beam can go along optic fiber at a distance of several tens of meters without losing power. There are no adjustable knots and expendable materials in optical fiber lasers, that is why they are very reliable and efficient.Conclusions. Modern optical fiber lasers have small dimensions, low power consumption and low weight. They don’t require special climatic or air clarity conditions that is why they are supposed to be easily integrated into processing lines for decontamination devices.
Complex compounds of iron(II) and cobalt(II) that contain vitamins С, В2, and В5 have radioprotective potential and are atoxic.Such compounds can be used as radioprotective agents in case of nuclear explosion threat, before people step out onto surface that has been contaminated with nuclear explosion products or during nuclear accident settlement.Relevance. Many existing radioprotective agents reveal unwanted side effects, when used. They are also sometimes unavailable. The development of new chemical compounds that exert radioprotective effect provides new possibilities for radioprotection of troops and population of the Russian Federation.Purpose of the study. The purpose of the study is to analyze radioprotective effect of complex compounds of iron(II) and cobalt(II) that contain vitamins С, В2, and В5 in case of acute radiation damage.Materials and methods. The experimental studies radioprotective properties of complex compounds of iron(II) and cobalt(II) in case of acute radiation damage have been conducted. The tests have been performed on laboratory mice. The mice have been exposed to radiation fractionally in 3 stages. The interval between them is 30 days and the radiation doses are 5.4, 3.0, and 6.5 Gr, respectively. The authors have taken into account the radiation exposure equability and dose accuracy. The evaluation of radioprotective efficiency of agents is based on the comparative analysis of changes in indicator values of redistributive shifts in blood samples, signs of direct radiation damage of lymphoid and blood forming tissues and the reactions of vascular and nervous systems to such damages, as well as the outcomes of acute radiation syndrome in control and test groups of mice at three stages of the experiment.Results. Survival rate in mice, who have been treated with a complex iron compound, is 100%, while survival rate in mice, who have been treated with a cobalt compound is 80%, and the survival rate in mice, who have been treated with Vetoron E is only 40%.Conclusion. Complex compounds of iron and cobalt that contain vitamins С, В2, and В5 exhibit radioprotective properties. They enhance the resistance to ionizing emission and don’t exert toxic impact on the organism of a living being.
In nature, there are bacteria and eukaryotic multicellular organisms (insects, arthropods) that have extraordinary, nevertheless still poorly understood radiation resistance. Knowledge of its mechanisms can significantly increase the effectiveness of radioprotectors and can lead to fundamental discoveries for the radioprotection in humans.Relevance. The growing threat of nuclear war and nuclear accidents requires updating and deepening the knowledge of the occurrence of radiation resistance in nature and the development of pharmaceutical means for human radiation protection.The purpose of the study is to summarize the ideas available in the scientific literature about the mechanisms of increased radiation resistance of some living organisms and about modern radioprotectors.The source base of the study. Scientific publications available through the biomedical research database PubMed. Research method. Analytical.Discussion. The reasons for the high radioresistance of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans and scorpions of the genus Androctonus are considered. For D. radiodurans, the radioresistance is based on the ability to protect its proteome, and not the genome, as previously thought. The resistance of bacterial cells to radiation is regulated by manganese antioxidants. With this ability, D. radiodurans can repair up to 500 breaks, while E. coli can repair two or three DNA breaks at once. The new bioconcept can be expressed as “Primacy of the proteome over the genome”. The principle of the radioresistance of scorpions is less clear. It is known that the main role is played by the hemolymph cells the anulocytes (“hémocytes annelés”), and hemocyanin molecules present freelely in the hemolymph. The paper further describes general therapeutic approaches to the development of new radioprotective agents. Radioprotectors are supposed to prevent/inhibit the formation of free radicals caused by radiation (most of which are formed during radiolysis of water), thereby inhibiting their reactions with biomolecules reducing the frequency of DNA strand breaks and preventing the occurrence of cellular disorders. The classification of radioprotectors is given, their properties are described in detail.Conclusions. For the future development of radioprotectors, it is important to recognize the “new” paradigm of radioresistance – the “primacy of the proteome over the genome”. From today's practical point of view, the cytoprotective complexing drug Amifostine can be recommended in radiation protection.
Marburg virus disease (MVD) doesn’t pose any epidemiological risks for the Russian Federation, but it can be used for the purposes of biological warfare and global information manipulations.Relevance. Nowadays the WHO may proclaim a new killer that could trigger a deadly global epidemic soon (instead of COVID-19). The newcomer is the MVD. The outbreaks of this disease in Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania and Rwanda in 2023–2024 have become quite a plausible pretext for such a proclamation.Purpose of the study is to make an impartial assessment of MVD epidemic capabilities. Source base of the study. Articles, retrieved from full-text academic periodicals, written in English and available on the Internet.Materials and methods. The analytical method. The suggestions of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) have been employed. The author has analyzed 50 reviews.Discussion. The paper summarizes data on history and scale of MVD outbreaks, dwells on taxonomical, biological, ecological and epidemiological properties of Marburg virus (MARV). From 1967 to the end of October 2024 have been registered 692 MVD cases with the mortality rate of 81.2%. The MVD outbreaks emerge in unprotected dry regions of East, South and Central Africa. They are separate and long-term cases. These cases haven’t provoked complex epidemic chains, comparable to spreading of viruses that trigger influenza or COVID-19 pandemics. The MVD pathogenesis is based on the overreaction of the immune system phagocytes on MARV multiplication. For people it results in shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, different necroses and antibody-dependent enhancement of infection. Despite the fact that all parts of human immune system are targeted at MARV, the vaccines are developed in such a way that human immune system is supposed to work against virus. The treatment is pathogenic and symptomatic one.Conclusions. The fact that MARV has emerged in Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania and Rwanda doesn’t mean that a global crisis has come. However, the nature of this disease is still quite known and provokes misunderstandings. The pathogenesis of this disease indicates that it is worth looking for the MARV primary focus among one-celled organisms in caves, where the bats are infected. We suppose that the infection hinders, because there is a system of innate cellular sensors that induce mRNA virus disintegration in cytoplasm. The immune system activation has nothing to do with it. It is unlikely that we will obtain a vaccine someday. The most efficient tools to stop MVD are surveillance, quarantines and observation periods for the infected and persons who stayed in touch with them. People also should follow particular safety rules.
It is possible to create self-assembling smart spray materials with preset protective chemical and biological properties by modifying the liquid fabrics composition.Relevance. Previous “smart” sprayed fabrics didn’t possess protective chemical and biological properties. However due to liquid base modification the mentioned fabrics acquire these properties, and if we spray them on clothes, uniform and equipment they can save life of soldiers and military vehicles.The purpose of the study is to explain and justify the process of creation of protective materials from liquid fabrics and to prove that it is possible to create fabrics with set properties of autopurification and self-sanitizing. Study base sources. Scientific publications available on the Internet and own studies of the authors of this paper.Materials and methods. Analytical method has been employed in this study.Results. The authors have provide a theoretical justification for the possibility of creation of smart self-assembling protective materials with set properties of autopurification and self-sanitizing. It has been proved that the spray can create any clothes for any purpose. We can give new properties to such clothes, if we perform liquid base modification with special additives. When we create such self-assembling bonded fabric, it doesn’t require special preparation, sewing and storage in special conditions. The novelty is that we create a liquid suspension that contains nanofibers of fabrics, water, tetrafluoroethane (or other gas), hydrocarbon solvent, pigment colourant nanoparticles of metals and nano-sized, enzymatic polyelectrolyte complexes. This liquid suspension, when sprayed will turn to an innovative smart fabric that will be able to protect from pathogenic microorganisms and toxic chemicals.Conclusions. (1) “Smart” liquid innovative fabrics and clothes are quite promising for national security protection and national defense. (2) The authors suggested that the existing compositions of liquid fabric sprays should be modified. The added chemical and biological active components will give the “smart” fabrics in question such properties as self-assembly, autopurification and self-sanitizing. (3) The choice of the components for a new composition for liquid fabrics has been justified in this article.
Mycotoxins are characterized by wide structural diversity and variety of origins.Various physical and chemical methods are tried for neutralization of mycotoxins.Enzymatic treatment looks like nature-like and efficient method of detoxification.Recombinant and fusion enzymes catalyze the detoxification of mixed mycotoxins.Relevance. Mycotoxins are easily produced by widely spread fungi and possess serious danger for life and wellbeing of humans, as well as farm animals and can be used for sabotage and terrorist acts.The purpose of the work is analysis of the main up-to-date trends in mycotoxin detoxification, paying special attention to biological (enzymatic) methods.The source base of the research is mainly English–language scientific literature available via the global Internet network, as well as the authors' own published experimental studies.The research method is analytical.Results. The current information on the structures of mycotoxins produced by microscopic fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium, and the objects for their accumulation is summarized. The main investigated methods of physical and chemical effects on mycotoxins in media of various chemical composition are noted. The use of enzymes for the detoxification of mycotoxins is analyzed in more detail. Special attention is paid to individual enzymes capable of catalyzing the conversion of structurally diverse mycotoxins in their mixtures. It is indicated that in order to increase the effectiveness of neutralizing the toxic effects of mycotoxins, it is possible to successfully use different enzymes genetically combined into one molecule (creating fusion proteins) or using a mixture of enzymes.There is a great potential in the use of enzymes that catalyze the detoxification of mycotoxins, possesing different mechanisms of action, at pH values below neutral.Conclusions. For detoxification of the same mycotoxins, there are at least several different enzymes that can catalyze reactions with them. Among them are fusion proteins, oxidoreductases (glucose oxidase, peroxidase, laccase). The use of computer models and the application of molecular modeling methods will allow us to obtain enzyme preparations for detoxification of mycotoxins at different pH values.
Academician I.L. Knunyants has made significant contributions to almost all the fields of organic chemistry that have been studied in the USSR. He is the founder of fluroorganic compounds chemistry. This is the field of chemistry that studies fluroorganic compounds of phosphorous, sulfur, selenium and others, he is also the founder of industrial scale production of teflon, kapron and nylon; he has contributed greatly to the development of antimalarial drugs, blood substitute called perfluoran, hydrogen cyanide antidotal substances and cytostatic antineoplastic drugs.Relevance. If we forget prominent persons in Soviet and Russian science, it will turn Russia into a colony of the West, and we will lose our self-esteem and will not be able to go forward and to progress. The last paper devoted to the biography and scientific contributions of a major general and engineer I.L. Knunyants (1906–1990) was published in 1996. From that time on the publications contained only the list of his main achievements, and even that is mostly forgotten.Purpose of the study is summarize and systematize the main data on the scientific career of academician I. L. Knunyants and to describe it in the light of events that happened in the 20th century and influenced our history Study base sources. Documents the contain information on I.L. Knunyants’ biography as well as on his inventions (including his own scientific works).Materials and methods. Descriptive method has been employed in this study. Results. The authors have considered the way of I.L. Knunyants as a scientist, how he decided to become one, the main fields of his activity as a scientist, as a teacher and as a member of society, his main achievements and inventions.Conclusions. Studies that were conducted by I.L. Knunyants were quite efficient and fruitful and had a practical focus. They were in-depth studies of fluoroorganic sulphurorganic phosphrous organic and heterocyclic compounds. I.L. Knunyants obtained important results for pharmacology (anti-malarial and carcinolytic drugs, artificial blood substitute) worked on the ways of developing drugs and polymers, has obtained efficient photosensitizers.
Highlights. Peptide biotoxins are important problem for human health and as lethal agents due to their wild diversity of chemical structures and biological sources.Such peptide biotoxins and prion proteins can be effectively neutralized by different methods, including by protease treatment.Relevance – biological toxins containing peptides possess serious danger for life and well being of humans. There are a lot of reviews summarizing immunologic protective measures against these toxins. As opposed to that an enzymatic detoxification of biotoxins is, at best, considered superficially.The purpose of the work is analysis of the main up-to-date trends of development of protective remedies against biotoxins of peptide nature.The source base of the research is mainly English–language scientific literature available via the global Internet network, as well as the authors' own published experimental studies.The research method is analytical.Results. Currently the efficiency of detoxifying immunological drugs is surging due to highly productive methods of screening and selection of effective clones producing monoclonal antibodies. Special attention in the review is paid to application of hydrolytic enzymes which are considered in the work as alternative for immunobiological agents during detoxication of peptide biotoxins. The natural analogue of detoxifying enzymes is a system “toxin–antitoxin” of procaryotes. More than four types of inhibitors of biotoxins are know: blocking of their catalytic activity; hindering of their target receptors; inhibiting of toxin by acting on its structure; and allosterically modulating of biotoxin activity. There are encouraging data on application of detoxifying enzymes for neutralization of prions in soils and for treatment of prion complication.Conclusions. Application of proteases for detoxification of peptide biotoxins and prion peptides could be considered as viable alternative to detoxifying immunobiological agents.
Textile materials that are used in medical facilities and other mass gathering locations, employed at the time of epidemics and military engagements are vulnerable to bioburden and may become a source of microbial contamination.Purpose of the study – to evaluate antimicrobial efficiency of biocidical compositions that are based on quaternary ammonium compounds and guanidine derivative polymers that are used as antimicrobial soaking agents for natural and synthetic textiles.Materials and methods. The authors have analyzed avalible literature on biocidical additives both in English and Russian languages. The authors also have tested natural and synthetic textiles and different antimicrobial soaking agents (compositions). One-day agar cultures of Staphilococcus aureus (strain 906) and Escherichia coli (strain 1257) served as test microorganisms. The efficiency of antimicrobial soaking agents for textiles towards test microorganisms has been evaluated by “agar plates” and “droplet infection” methods. Biocidical treatment of antimicrobial fabric was considered effective, if the inhibition zone of test microorganisms was at least 4 mm.Results. The papers under analysis have no data on the possibility of use of such compositions as soaking agents that will permit to obtain antimicrobial fabrics. The experimental studies provided data on bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties of used compositions. The comparative analysis has allowed to determine the most efficient compositions used for soaking of different fabrics.Conclusions. The soaking that contains 0,05% alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride, 0,05% polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride, 0,05% triamin and 40,0% propylene glycol has turned out to be the most efficient one towards gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. It gives protective properties both to synthetic (polyamide 100%) and mixed fabrics (cotton 65% and Composition that contains 0,05% katanol and 40,0% polyethyleneglycol may be used to create antimicrobial soaking for fabrics of mixed compositions. This soaking may also be effective towards gram-positive microorganisms.
There is a danger that a natural smallpox virus may be reintroduced from the unknown spring or that a similar virus with the same pathogenic properties may appear or that somebody may create a synthetic copy of such a virus. That is why it is crucial to have a proper laboratory pattern that may imitate a natural smallpox disease and other human orthopoxviruses. A rabbitpox virus may provoke a grave and highly contagious disease in rabbits with a high death rate. The symptoms of this disease in rabbits is similar to symptoms of natural smallpox in humans. There have been no cases of rabbitpox in humans.Purpose of the study – To summarize data on research of a rabbitpox virus and to analyze the symptoms of this disease in rabbits that is similar to a natural pox virus in humans. This analysis may contribute to the development of new drugs against smallpox.Study base sources – English scientific papers available on the Internet.Method of the study – Analytical.Results and discussion. Rabbitpox was first detected in 1930 in lab. rabbits in Utrecht, the Netherlands, then in the USA, at Rockfeller University in New York. From 1941 the outbreaks of rabbitpox were registered in research institutes in Europe and in the USA. However, there were no cases of this disease in rabbits in the wildlife. The analysis has demonstrated that the pattern “a rabbit–a rabbitpox virus” has been quite successful in pre-clinical studies of protective efficiency of orthopoxvirus vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, mRNA-based drugs and chemotherapeutic agents (thiosemicarbazone, Cidofovir, tecovirimat, Brincidofovir, etc.) for different transmission modes including inhalative one. This pattern is also useful for evaluation of diagnostic sets, employed for orthopoxviruses detection.Conclusion. Pattern “a rabbit–a rabbitpox virus” is safe for humans and is promising for simulation of different pathological states when we conduct various medical and biological studies of orthopoxvirus infections. It also may be used to evaluate the efficiency of immunobiological drugs against smallpox, chemotherapeutic agents and diagnostic sets.
