Background:The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of intravenous isoniazid (H) and ethambutol (E) administered in patients with new sputum positive drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) with tuberculous meningoencephalitis (TM) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection in the intensive phase of treatment. Methods: Fifty-four patients with TB/TM and HIV co-infection were enrolled for this study. Group 1 comprised of 23 patients treated with E and H intravenously, while rifampicin and pyrazinamide were prescribed orally. Group 2 consisted of 31 patients treated with the first-line anti-TB drugs orally. The concentrations of H and E in blood serum were detected using a chromatographic method. Results: A significant improvement in the clinical symptoms and X-ray signs in patients treated intravenously with H and E was observed and compared to group 2. The sputum Mycobacterium tuberculosis positivity was observed during the second month of the treatment in 25.0% of patients from group 1 and 76.1% of the patients from the control group (p=0.003). In addition, nine patients (39.1%) died up to 6 months when H and E were prescribed intravenously compared with 22 (70.9%) in group 2 (p=0.023). Conclusion:In TB/TM with HIV, the intravenous H and E treatment was more effective than oral H and E treatment at 2 months of intensive treatment in sputum conversion as well as in clinical improvement, accompanied by significantly higher mean serum concentrations. In addition, the mortality rate was lower in intravenous H and E treatment compared to oral treatment.

The fight against corruption in Ukraine is one of the main tasks of law enforcement agencies. However, the process of proving corruption crimes in criminal cases is accompanied by problems that negatively affect the quality of the pre-trial investigation. The purpose of the article is to identify and study typical investigative errors and develop recommendations on the proper use of means and methods of proof in criminal cases of corruption crimes, taking into account the norms of national legislation and international criteria for ensuring human rights in criminal proceedings. To achieve this goal, a comparative and systemic structural analysis of international and domestic regulatory legal acts and court decisions, a selective study of materials from criminal cases on corruption crimes were made. It has been established that the process of proving in cases of corruption crimes in Ukraine will fully comply with international standards for ensuring human rights, provided that operational officers, investigators, and prosecutors comply with the admissibility criterion of evidence, especially when using secret measures. Investigative errors that take place at the stage of pre-trial investigation in this category of criminal cases lead to the restriction of human rights and freedoms and consist in significant violations of the criminal procedural law when collecting, checking, and evaluating evidence, as well as when opening the collected materials to the defense. Preventing such violations requires strict adherence to the general requirements for conducting undercover activities, formulated in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and domestic courts. The proof must take into account the "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine of the inadmissibility of evidence derived from materials collected in violation of the law. The defense side should be provided with timely access to the materials of covert events, including the documents that served as the basis for their implementation. It is important not to allow actions that are regarded as a provocation (incitement) of the suspect to commit a corruption offense.

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The work is based on the analysis of the scientific literature, criminal and criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine, which regulates public relations associated with the identification, detection, investigation and judicial review of cases of illegal benefit by officials, on the precedents of the European Court of Human Rights on this issue, as well as the study and summarizing the materials of 200 criminal cases on illegal benefits considered by the courts of Ukraine in 2015-2019. It has been established that proof of corruption offences in criminal proceedings is the activity of the subjects of criminal proceedings, which consists of collecting, assessing and verifying factual data in order to establish circumstances relevant to the investigation. At the same time, procedural and tactical mistakes, as well as abuses on the part of prosecution agents, which lead to deficiencies in the process of proving the guilt of officials who commit corruption offences, are very common in the practice of the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies in this area.

An analysis of European standards and main trends in the field of legal regulation of forensic DNA analysis has been carried out. It has been established that the general European legislation defines recommendations on the general principles of using DNA analysis within the framework of the criminal justice system, establishes the obligation of each state to create and maintain a national DNA database, exchange information based on DNA databases, take measures to protect personal data, store DNA profiles of persons convicted of sexual offenses against children, to accredit forensic laboratories to ensure the proper quality of molecular genetic research. Taking into account the experience of European countries, it can be seen that a comprehensive approach to the improvement of domestic legislation, namely the implementation of the law on the national DNA database, the introduction of amendments and additions to the current Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, other laws and departmental regulations regarding the use of DNA analysis in criminal proceedings, is a necessary prerequisite for bringing this area of law enforcement to a new qualitative level. Together with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the State Registration of Human Genomic Information”, it is necessary to introduce changes and additions to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine in order to harmonize the provisions of these normative legal acts, which primarily concern the improvement of the procedure for obtaining samples for molecular genetic research. It has been substantiated that the experience of Germany and the Netherlands regarding the legal regulation of mass DNA testing at the stage of pre-trial investigation of serious and especially serious crimes can be useful for Ukraine. Taking into account the rapid development of forensic DNA analysis technologies and the introduction of the latest methods, which are characterized by a much greater degree of interference in the personal and family life of a person, compared to traditional methods of STR profiling, there is a need for a legislative definition of the permissible limits of forensic DNA research within the framework of criminal proceedings in Ukraine.