Epidemiological and immunological monitoring of tetanus in Georgia (Republic)

During the period of 1961-1990 the regular immunological and epidemiological monitoring of tetanus was carried out. At the prevaccination period (1937-1960) 140 cases of tetanus were registered, 77 patients died (morbidity rate being 0.97-0.11 per 100,000 of the population with mortality rate equal to 55.6%). At the period of mass vaccinal prophylaxis (1960-1990) 56 cases were registered and 27 patients died (the corresponding values: 0.09-0.11 with 48.2% mortality). In 1981-1990 altogether 53,213 vaccinees were examined. 4,864 vaccinees (8.9%) proved to be seronegative and 43,615 vaccinees (81.9%) were found to have protective antibody titers. 4,220 pregnant women were examined; 476 women (11.2%) proved to be seronegative and 3,576 women (84.3%) were found to have protective antibody titers. Timely specific prophylaxis proved to be the only way for decreasing tetanus morbidity.     

The carboxylic and amino acid chemoreception niche of Bulinus rohlfsi (Clessin), the snail host of Schistosoma haematobium

The response of the freshwater snail, Bulinus rohlfsi, to gradients of carboxylic acids, amino acids and some related compounds was investigated by means of diffusion olfactometers. The snails proved to be very discriminating in their responses to the chemical species tested and there were also very marked ontogenetic differences. Although 15 distinctive types of amino and carboxylic acids proved to be attractants and arrestants, only octanoic acid proved effective for snails of all ages. Possible mechanisms involved in the chemoreception of active compounds, the ecological, physiological and biochemical relevance of the responses and possible application to controlled release technology are discussed.     

Monoclonal antibodies that detect live salmonellae.

Nine immunoglobulin G and nine immunoglobulin M murine monoclonal antibody-producing hybridomas reactive with live Salmonella bacteria were obtained from several fusions of immune spleen cells and Sp2/0 myeloma cells. The antibodies were selected by the magnetic immunoluminescence assay. The monoclonal antibodies were reactive with serogroups A, B, C1, C2, D, E, and K and Salmonella choleraesuis subsp. diarizonae. Each monoclonal antibody proved to be reactive with a distinct serotype. Clinical isolates belonging to these Salmonella serogroups could be detected. Reactivity with non-Salmonella bacteria proved to be minor.     

Monoclonal antibodies that detect live salmonellae.

Nine immunoglobulin G and nine immunoglobulin M murine monoclonal antibody-producing hybridomas reactive with live Salmonella bacteria were obtained from several fusions of immune spleen cells and Sp2/0 myeloma cells. The antibodies were selected by the magnetic immunoluminescence assay. The monoclonal antibodies were reactive with serogroups A, B, C1, C2, D, E, and K and Salmonella choleraesuis subsp. diarizonae. Each monoclonal antibody proved to be reactive with a distinct serotype. Clinical isolates belonging to these Salmonella serogroups could be detected. Reactivity with non-Salmonella bacteria proved to be minor.     

2,4-Diaminopyridine δ-opioid receptor agonists and their associated hERG pharmacology

A number of libraries were produced to explore the potential of 2,4-diaminopyridine lead 1. The resulting diaminopyridines proved to be potent and selective δ-opioid receptor agonists. Several rounds of lead optimisation using library chemistry identified compound 17 which went on to show efficacy in an electromyography model of neuropathic pain. The structure–activity relationship of the series against the hERG ion channel proved to be a key selectivity hurdle for the series.     

水曲柳腋芽离体快繁研究初报

以水曲柳带顶芽、腋芽茎段为外植体进行离体培养,研究其适宜的灭菌方法、基本培养基种类和激素对腋芽萌发、丛芽产生、芽苗增殖的影响。结果表明,水曲柳的腋芽茎段为快繁的适宜外植体,茎段灭菌以用0.05%HgCl₂处理2 min最好。在萌芽培养中,BA和2ip均可促进腋芽萌发,但以8 mg·L^-1 BA处理时萌发效果最好,萌发率达100％;将腋芽萌发后长成的新枝转入添加ZT的培养基中,出现丛芽,在添加1.0 mg·L^-1的ZT的培养基中增殖效果最好,增殖系数达到3.0。无论在萌芽培养还是增殖培养中均发现WPM培养基最适合水曲柳腋芽的离体快繁。     

Identification of Zeatin and Zeatinriboside in Coconut Milk

Zeatin and zeatinriboside were identified from the milk of mature Cocos nucifera fruits. It would appear as if the two compounds are present in roughly equal proportions. Ethyl acetate extraction in a liquid-liquid extractor at an alkaline pH (8.0) proved to be a very efficient method of extracting zeatinriboside. Partitioning with water-saturated n-butanol proved to be the best way of extracting zeatin.     

Action of Na-RNA on infection in mice infected with Shigella flexneri]

Experiments were conducted on albino mice. Experimentally induced dysentery infection proved to become aggravated under the effect of yeast Na-RNA expressed in the increase of the number of animals which fell ill and perished. This phenomenon proved to be based on the acceleration of reproduction of the causative agent, with a simultaneous selection of its virulent clones seen both in vitro and in vivo.     

VAGOTOMY—Clinical Results,with a Note on Temporary Gastrostomy

Sixty replies to questionnaires sent to more than 100 patients who had had vagotomy for peptic ulcer showed that 93 per cent had satisfactory results. There were no deaths in this series. Three times as many unsatisfactory results occurred in a group of patients who had had gastrectomy. There were no proved recurrent or marginal ulcers in either group.Vagotomy plus a complementary procedure has proved, in the author''s experience, to be the operation of choice in chronic duodenal ulcer. At present gastrectomy plus vagotomy appears to be less desirable than vagotomy plus pyloroplasty or gastroenterostomy.     

The role of organic acids in assisted phytoremediation processes of salt marsh sediments

Some plants have high ability to absorb heavy metals in high concentrations. In this study, Spartina maritima was tested in conjunction with low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA), in order to evaluate the possible use of this plant in phytoremediation processes in salt marshes. Three different LMWOA (citric acid, malic acid and acetic acid) were applied to contaminated intact cores of S. maritima colonized sediment and several heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr and Ni) were analyzed in sediment and plant parts. Acetic acid application proved to be the most efficient, enhancing greatly the uptake of all metals analyzed. Citric acid also showed good results, while malic acid proved to be very inefficient in most of the cases. The highest enhancement was observed for Cr with a 10-fold increase of the uptake upon application of acetic acid, while improving the Pb uptake proved to be the most difficult, probably due to its low solubility.     

Isolation and amino acid sequence of insulins and C-peptides of European bison (Bison bonasus) and fox (Alopex lagopus)

Insulins and C-peptides were extracted and purified from bison and fox pancreatic glands. The insulins were reduced and pyridylethylated, and the derived A- and B-chains separated by HPLC. Amino acid sequence determinations of the pyridylethylated A- and B-chains proved bisontine insulin to be identical to bovine insulin and fox insulin to be identical to dog and porcine insulin. Bisontine C-peptide proved to be identical to bovine C-peptide. The isolated fox C-peptide comprises 23 amino acid residues and probably represents a major tryptic fragment of a larger C-peptide. The fox C-peptide fragment is identical to the dog C-peptide (9-31) except for residue 3 (residue 11 in the dog C-peptide), which is aspartic acid as compared with glutamic acid in the dog C-peptide.     

Computational selection of nucleic acid biosensors via a slip structure model

Aptamers have been shown to undergo ligand-dependent conformational changes, and can be joined to ribozymes to create allosteric ribozymes (aptazymes). An anti-flavin (FMN) aptamer joined to the hammerhead ribozyme yielded an aptazyme that underwent small, FMN-dependent displacements in the helix that joined the aptamer and ribozyme. This 'slip structure' model in which alternative sets of base-pairs are formed in the absence and presence of ligand proved amenable to energetic and computational modeling. Initial successes in modeling the activities of known aptazymes led to the in silico selection of new ligand-dependent aptazymes from virtual pools that contained millions of members. Those aptazymes that were predicted to best fit the slip structure model were synthesized and assayed, and the best-designed aptazyme was activated 60-fold by FMN. The slip structure model proved to be generalizable, and could be applied with equal facility to computationally generate aptazymes that proved to be experimentally activated by other ligands (theophylline) or that contained other catalytic cores (hairpin ribozyme). Moreover, the slip structure model could be applied to the prediction of a ligand-dependent aptamer beacon biosensor in which the addition of the protein vascular endothelial growth factor (VegF) led to a 10-fold increase in fluorescent signal.     

An experimentally induced phlegmonous abscess by a strain of Bacteroides gingivalis in guinea pigs and mice

The virulence of B. gingivalis strain W83 was studied in an experimental animal model. Cells grown overnight, washed and resuspended in broth, were injected intradermally or subcutaneously in the back of guinea pigs, rats and mice. This strain proved to be very virulent, causing a severe plegmonous abscess in guinea pigs. Also in mice, which are thought to be resistant to infections with black-pigmented Bacteroides strains, the same type of infection could be induced. Rats proved to be rather insensitive. The model presented can be used as a simple virulence test for these anaerobic bacteria.     

Size comparisons among integral membrane transport protein homologues in bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya

Integral membrane proteins from over 20 ubiquitous families of channels, secondary carriers, and primary active transporters were analyzed for average size differences between homologues from the three domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya. The results showed that while eucaryotic homologues are consistently larger than their bacterial counterparts, archaeal homologues are significantly smaller. These size differences proved to be due primarily to variations in the sizes of hydrophilic domains localized to the N termini, the C termini, or specific loops between transmembrane alpha-helical spanners, depending on the family. Within the Eucarya domain, plant homologues proved to be substantially smaller than their animal and fungal counterparts. By contrast, extracytoplasmic receptors of ABC-type uptake systems in Archaea proved to be larger on average than those of their bacterial homologues, while cytoplasmic enzymes from different organisms exhibited little or no significant size differences. These observations presumably reflect evolutionary pressure and molecular mechanisms that must have been operative since these groups of organisms diverged from each other.     

The chemical ecology of Biomphalaria glabrata (say): Sugars as attractants and arrestants

• 1.1. The behavioural responses of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata to chemical gradients of sugars were investigated by means of diffusion olfactometers.
• 2.2. The snails proved very discriminating in their responses. Thus, only nine (39.1%) of the 23 sugars tested proved to be statistically significant attractants or arrestants. None proved to be statistically significant repellents.
• 3.3. Of all the sugars tested maltose proved to be the most potent attractant or arrestant. The lower threshold of response to this sugar lies between 5 × 10⁻⁶ and 5 × 10⁻⁷M.
• 4.4. The results are compared with those obtained for amino and carboxylic acids and their ecological relevance is discussed.

     

Computer-aided analysis of Z-plasties

Various Z-plasties were evaluated with a mathematical analytical method called the finite-element method. The lengthening and shortening effects on the skin proved to depend on the tip angle. Serial Z-plasties diminished the stress concentration after pairs of flaps had been transposed. Subdivided Z-plasties proved to be the most effective for lengthening. The finite-element method provided a good simulation of Z-plasties on a skin with complex properties. The lengthening and shortening effects on anisotropic skin were influenced not by the degree but by the direction of the anisotropy, whereas the total force required for transposing the two flaps was vice versa. The finite-element method was found to be useful for finding analytical solutions for biomechanical skin problems.     

Conversion of cheese whey to single-cell protein

Thirteen yeast species belonging to nine genera were screened for the production of single-cell protein (SCP) using cheese whey as the substrate. Cheese whey supplemented with minerals and yeast extract proved to the best medium for yield, lactose utilization, biomass production, and conversion efficiency. Production of beta-galactosidase was studied in Brettanomyces anomalus, Kluyveromyces fragilis, Trichosporon cutaneum, and Wingea robertsii; the last proved to be the best strain combining high yield with shorter incubation period.     

Evaluation of a Commercial Latex Agglutination Test Kit for Cryptococcal Antigen

Two dozen Crypto-LA kits for detecting Cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide antigens were evaluated. Ten kits proved reliable for detecting and titering antigen in clinical materials. Fourteen kits were found to be inadequate.     

PCR-DGGE对长江河口八种野生鱼类肠道菌群多样性的比较研究

目的分析长江河口捕获的8种野生鱼类的肠道菌群多样性的差异并观察这种差异与食性的联系。方法采用PCR-DGGE(denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis)技术,DGGE图谱用PCA(principal component analy-sis)方法进行分析。结果建立了长江口8种鱼野生条件下肠道菌群的DGGE指纹图谱,观察到它们在野生条件下的肠道菌群的差异。其中,营底栖生活的舌鰕虎鱼的肠道菌群和其他7种野生鱼有着明显的差异,其他7种鱼的肠道菌群多样性的差异与它们的食性差异相关。结论PCR-DGGE技术是一种能够快速有效地分析研究鱼类肠道菌群结构的技术。8种野生鱼的肠道菌群的结构有明显的差别,并且食性差异大的鱼类之间肠道菌群差异也     

Selection and temperature effects on extra dorsocentral bristles inDrosophila melanogaster

Starting from base populations which showed a tendency to form supernumerary dorsocentral bristles, selection for high numbers of dorsocentrals was carried out. In all, 9 lines were selected 6 to 14 generations. Selection proved to be effective in all but two lines. Selection for reduced numbers in one of the lines also proved effective.Mean values of over 10 were reached in the females of certain high lines. Average counts in males were always lower than those of females. This sex difference is not a consequence of the difference in size between the sexes.The base populations were of mutant stock origin, and some of them segregated for mutant genes which proved to be correlated with extrabristle phenotype. Supernumerary bristles were not distributed in the same manner in all of the selection lines, nor was the reaction of phenotypic expression to temperature the same in various lines.