Characteristics of flow-standardized inspiratory lung sounds in healthy subjects

The precise median spectral characteristics of the main inspiratory lung sounds over the chest surface at an air flow rate of 0.89 ± 0.18 L/s have been determined in 36 healthy men aged 19 to 80 years. The spectral characteristics exhibited a high degree of bilateral symmetry. The cutoff frequencies were found to increase significantly when moving from the interscapular region to both the apical and the basal areas of the lungs. The study also determined the 90% confidence intervals for interindividual variation in cutoff frequencies of the lung sound spectra in lung areas examined by means of auscultation.     

The Influence of Lipid Matrix Composition on the Microenvironment of Levofloxacin in Liposomal Forms

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - We have studied the interaction of the antibacterial drug levofloxacin with lipid bilayers of various compositions: 100% DPPC and with the addition of 20%...     

Meiotic Chromosomes,Synaptonemal Complexes in a Female Viviparous Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) in Prophase I of Meiosis

Russian Journal of Genetics - In the females of the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) (family Lacertidae) from Northwest Russia (2n = 35: 32A (acrocentric autosomes) + Z1Z2W...     

Antigenic properties of BB creatine kinases from various tissues in hens

Studies have been made on interaction between rabbit antiserum to BB creatine kinase from hen gizzard and BB creatine kinases from the brain, heart and gizzard of hen. The degree of interaction was evaluated by the intensity of fluorescence of the immune complexes labeled by a fluorescent dye. It was shown that the intensity of fluorescence of the immune complexes formed by BB creatine kinases from the brain and gizzard of hen is approximately the same, whereas that formed by BB creatine kinase from the heart is twice lower. The data obtained indicate that structural differences in the region of antigenic determinants exist between BB creatine kinase from the heart and those from the brain and gizzard of hen.     

Transmission Ratio Distortion,Sterility, and Control of the t-Complex Function in Sperm

Mouse t-complex located on chromosome 17 contains genes affecting only male fertility. Some genes of this complex are recessive lethals; nonetheless, the high frequency of the t-complex carriers in a population is maintained due to a mechanism referred to as transmission ratio distortion (TRD), i.e., after crosses with wild-type females, males heterozygous for the t-complex transmit the t-bearing chromosome to nearly all their offspring, which suggests that the t-complex genes control sperm function. Analysis of this phenomenon shows that the resultant TRD is determined by the ratio between the distorter genes (Tcd) and a responder gene (Tcr) located within the t-complex region. Many authors believe that two to six distorter genes currently known have an additive effect. A genetic model of the non-Mendelian inheritance in the progeny of heterozygous male mice specifically explains sterility of animals carrying the t-complex with complementary lethal genes. The model suggests that some distorter gene products interacting with the responder gene have a selective effect on motility of both mutant and wild-type sperm. Insufficient sperm motility and/or their unsuccessful capacitation result in poor if any fertilization. Information on the t-complex genes is necessary for understanding the biological mechanisms of male sterility and may be used in medical practice.     

Distribution of pathogenic enterobacteria in the water of open reservoirs]

Investigations carried out indicated that the main source of microbial contamination of open reservoirs were effluents often drained without any purification and disinfection. Salmonellae were isolated in 10.6 +/- 0.88% of the water samples examined in the Southern regions of the country. Isolation of pathogenic enterobacteria from the water of open reservoirs was seasonal, with the maximal percentage in winter and in spring, this being connected with delay of self-purification processes in the cold seasons of the year. Serovars isolated from water and patients proved to be identical. There was no direct correlation between the coli index and the isolation of pathogenic enterobacteria.     

Electrophysiological and neurochemical study of long-term sensitization in the snail

The long-term sensitization of avoidance reflex was produced in snail Helix pomatia, which led to the remarkable increase in the pneumostome closures period. The formation of long-term sensitization is also accompanied by increase in excitability of command neurons of this reflex. One of the possible mechanisms of this phenomenon is the depolarization of these cells. The quantitative redistribution of water-soluble proteins with relative mobility 0.54 0.42 0.40 was also observed in the identified neurons, both included in the avoidance reflex (command neurons) and non-included (bursting neurons, nerve cells of pool D). The protein with the relative mobility of 0.75 was unique for the nerve cells of neurosecretory pool D in sensitized snails, and was never found in control animals.