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Why do some regional entrepreneurs engage in conflicts with the heads of the subnational units of the Russian Federation within a system that puts economic elites in a deliberately unequal position in relation to the authorities? Based on the analysis of conflicts between governors and businessmen in Karelia, the author hypothesizes that contradictions around redistribution, combined with the availability of the independent resources e.g., branchy patronal networks, drive such confrontation. According to the author’s conclusion, the federal center also plays a significant role. When deciding whether to start confrontation with governors, regional actors could count on the support from Moscow and resignation of an undesirable regional leader. However, due to the peculiarity of the external environment, primarily institutional and informational, the rationality of such behavior often turns out to be low. The opaque informal rules, which electoral authoritarianism relies upon, affect the ability of actors to create adequate cognitive schemata. The informational environment, in which the regional elites operate, sends them unclear and contradictory signals about the limits of acceptable actions and their possible consequences. In turn, the formal preservation of an institution of elections and parties leads to the formation of identities that narrow the set of available behavioral strategies. The mechanism of mutual learning does not work either: under conditions when the resources available to counter-actors cannot be verified, and the rules of the game change with a governor’s turnover, reliance on the previous experience is fraught with strategic miscalculations.

Due to the successful centralization efforts of the beginning of the 2000s, Russian governors almost lost their domestic as well as international agency. However, there is still a considerable vari...

All over the world, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are taken annually by about three hundred million people and this figure is constantly increasing. At the same time, NSAIDs are also one of the most common causes of side effects of drug therapy. The development and implementation of new anti-inflammatory drugs, including those of plant origin, with minimal side effects is an urgent task of modern pharmaceutical science. Vaccinium corymbosum L. (family Ericaceae), which is gaining more and more popularity among berry crops and is successfully cultivated in Ukraine, is promising in this direction for research. The aim: phytochemical analysis of dry extracts from blueberry leaves to establish the possibility of creating new drugs with anti-inflammatory activity. Materials and methods.The objects of the study were dry extracts of northern highbush blueberry leaves. The content of amino acids and phenolic compounds was determined by HPLC and spectrophotometry. The prototypal activity was studied in vivo and in vitro. Research results.4 dry extracts were obtained from northern highbush blueberry leaves. In the extracts obtained by HPLC, 7 amino acids were identified, including 3 essential ones: arginine, histidine, and phenylalanine. As a result of the HPLC study, 7 phenolic compounds were identified in extracts from the leaves of northern highbush blueberry: 5 flavonoids - rutin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, quercetin and kaempferol and 2 hydroxycinnamic acids, chlorogenic and caffeic acid. For the first time, the anti-inflammatory effect of extracts from blueberry leaves was investigated. It was revealed that extract 1 at a dose of 50 mg/kg and extract 4 modified with arginine at a dose of 25 mg/kg have the highest anti-inflammatory activity. Conclusions.The results of the conducted studies indicate that extracts from the leaves of northern highbush blueberry in terms of the content of biologically active substances are promising sources for the creation of new drugs and dietary supplements with anti-inflammatory activity

BACKGROUND AND AIMS It is known that IgA-nephropathy (IgAN) can be secondary to liver disease, skin disease, lung disease, etc. There is also evidence of an association between IgAN and celiac disease. In the Russian population, there are no studies aimed at identifying the prevalence of IgAN and celiac disease in adult. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of celiac antibody (СА) in patients with IgAN and to compare the clinical and laboratory features within groups. METHOD fifty patients with IgAN were included in the study. Of these, 46 (92%) were male and 4 (8%) were female, ranging in age from 18 to 63 years. The mean age was 35.9 ± 9.8 years. All patients underwent general clinical blood and urinalysis, daily urinary protein excretion. Serum concentrations of IgA, total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea, uric acid, IgA antibodies to tissue transglutaminase (tTG), to deamidated gliadin peptide (DGP), to endomysium (EMA) and IgA and IgG antibodies to reticulin (ARA) were assessed, GFR was calculated using the CKD-EPI formula, the ‘office’ blood pressure was measured. Patients with positive CA underwent fibrogastroduodenoscopy (FGDS) with biopsy of the retro-bulbar of the duodenum. The results of the celiac marker study were compared in two groups of patients with IgAN. Group I (n = 10) were patients with IgAN and positive CA; Group II (n = 40) were patients with IgAN and negative CA. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS 26.0. The null statistical hypothesis of no difference and no relationship was refuted at P < .05. RESULTS Positive serological markers were found in 20% of the total group of patients with IgAN. IgA antibodies to DGP were positive in 100% of cases; one patient had a one-step increase in IgA antibodies to DGP and IgA antibodies to tTG. No increase of antibodies to ARA and EMA was observed in any case. All Group I patients underwent FGDS; changes in the architectonics of the duodenum were not found. Four patients underwent biopsy of the retro-bulbar of the duodenum according to the Marsh histological classification; all biopsies were classified as Marsh 0–1. The mean concentration of protein in the urine of group I patients was 1.36 (0.76–1.58) g/L and statistically significantly higher than in group II patients 0.6 (0.4–0.93) g/L. (Р = .033). The mean daily proteinuria in celiac antibody-positive patients was 2.38 (0.78–2.8) g/day and was statistically significantly higher than in group II patients at 0.7 (0.6–1.36) g/day (Р = 0.049). We compared the incidence of arterial hypertension (AH) depending on the presence of CA in patients with IgAN. Consistent with the findings, the incidence of AH was statistically significantly higher in group I compared to group II (P = .031). The odds of AH in patients with CA were 9 times higher than in patients with negative CA [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.041–77.803]. The mean diastolic blood pressure was statistically significantly higher in group I—105.1 (96–115) mm Hg. compared to group II—92 (86–98) mm Hg (P = .032). We compared the incidence of chronic tonsillitis (CT) according to the presence of CA in patients with IgAN. According to the data, the incidence of CT was statistically significantly higher in group I compared to group II (Р = .023). The likelihood of having CT was 8.2 times higher in patients with positive antibodies than in those with negative CA (95% CI 1.461–46.272). CONCLUSION Although the patients with IgAN and positive CA did not have gastrointestinal symptoms, and FGDS with a biopsy of the retro-bulbar of the duodenum did not provide convincing evidence for a violation of the intestinal architectonics, we found statistically significant deviations in clinical and laboratory in this group of patients. Our preliminary findings suggest that an isolated increase in CA to exacerbate the course of IgAN. Whether the screening detection of CA, without disrupting intestinal architectonics, can be an additional diagnostic and prognostic marker for patients with IgAN remains a matter of debate to date. In the meantime, further research on this issue is needed, both at clinical and experimental level.

Business plays a big role in politics all over the world due to its special interests, possession over autonomous resources, and importance for economic development and social stability. Russia and its regions are not an exception, business actors and the state are connected in a complex system of interactions and neopatrimonial exchange. In many regions, local business is a powerful political actor which is able to lobby its interests and influence regional electoral outcomes. The article reviews the research on business and politics in Russian regions. The research on Russia contributed considerably to our understanding of business actors’ direct political participation. It was made possible by the unique constellation of political and institutional factors. Moreover, the existing body of research demonstrates a complex picture of state-business interdependence that transcends the simplified models of state-business relations in authoritarian regimes.