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Background: Poor oral hygiene and the increased incidence and severity of periodontitis may exacerbate SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim was to evaluate the oral microbiota of 60 participants divided into groups: COVID-19 convalescents who received antibiotics during hospitalization (I), COVID-19 convalescents without antibiotic therapy (II) and healthy individuals (III). Materials and Methods: Dental examination was conducted, and oral health status was evaluated using selected dental indexes. Clinical samples (saliva, dorsal swabs, supragingival and subgingival plaque) were collected and used for metagenomic library to the nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) preparation. Results: Each of the clinical materials in particular groups of patients showed a statistically significant and quantitatively different bacterial composition. Patients from group I showed significantly worse oral health, reflected by higher average values of dental indexes and also a higher percentage of Veillonella, Tannerella, Capnocytophaga and Selenomonas genera in comparison to other groups. Additionally, a statistically significant decrease in the amount of Akkermansia type in both groups with COVID-19 was observed for all materials. Conclusions: The primary factor affecting the composition of oral microbiota was not the SARS-CoV-2 infection itself, but the use of antibiotic therapy. The increased percentage of pro-inflammatory pathogens observed in COVID-19 patients underscores the importance of preventing periodontal disease and improving oral hygiene in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last twenty years the European energy security debate has been overwhelmingly focused on the energy security of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) states and on their relationship with Russia. The key issue has been Russia's attempt to maintain its influence and control through its energy dependencies. The article argues that the problems encountered by the CEE states have been resolved to a large extent due to the actions taken by the European Commission (EC). The EC has played a vital role in providing a collective voice for CEE and in supporting their regional energy integration in order to reduce their vulnerability to external pressures from Russia. The article goes on to argue that while the issue of CEE energy dilemmas has been addressed this does not, however, mean that the European energy predicament regarding Russia has been fully resolved. The article contends that the European-Russian energy relationship is also conditioned by larger geopolitical concerns regarding the US-Russian relationship, NATO, as well as by Cold War legacies which have come to the surface in a cyclical manner. The Trump administration's sharp criticism of new energy infrastructure projects constructed from Europe to Russia underscores this point. The article asserts that European energy security will remain problematic in the absence of a more general political settlement between Russia and the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present the results of experiments which allowed us to propose up-to-date method of 3D visual representation of explored archaeological layers. Considering the destructive nature of excavations, the correct documentation of an exploration, which offers an insight both into the decision-making process taking place on site, and into the most faithful representation of the examined material, presents a fundamental challenge for a field archaeologist. The aim of the experiments presented here was to test three methods of creating 3D models of successive archaeological layers (contexts) recorded during an exploration. The presented findings show that the method of editing point clouds using open-source software prior to importing the model of the reconstruction of the explored layer into GIS software, is the best solution from the point of view of both the effort and time required, and it can definitely be suggested as the standard procedure of creating the graphical bases for an archaeological database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]