Antigenic anachronism of influenza viruses A(H2N2) in Leningrad in 1980. II. The laboratory characteristics of influenza A/Leningrad/80 viruses

As indicated by the results of the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) test, influenza viruses A/Leningrad/80 contain hemagglutinin (HA), similar to that of virus A/Singapore/1/57 (H2N2). Neuraminidase contained in viruses A/Leningrad/80 belongs to serological subtype N2 and is similar to that of virus A/Singapore/1/57 (H2N2). No differences in the polypeptide composition of the virus-induced proteins of viruses A/Leningrad/527/80, A/Leningrad/549/80, A/Leningrad/553/80 and virus A/Singapore/1/57 used as reference have been detected in the study of their electrophoretic mobility in polyacrylamide gel, as well as the mobility of duplexes obtained by the hybridization of the virion and complement RNA of viruses A/Leningrad/553/80 and A/Singapore/1/57. The results of the HAI test with antisera to purified HA indicate that virus A/Leningrad/549/80 contains HA similar to that of viruses A(H2N2) isolated in 1957, but not in 1964. The HAI test with the sera of polecats having the infection permits the differentiation of viruses A/Leningrad/80 from epidemic viruses A(H2N2) isolated in 1957-1965, including reference virus A/Singapore/1/57. In relation to the latter, the isolates of 1980 are older antigenic mutants. The isolates of 1980 are distinguished from virus A(H2N2), isolated in 1975 from the system of persisting influenza infection in a tissue culture, by mutation in NS-gene and the properties of RNA-polymerase. The authenticity of the isolation of viruses A(H2N2) in Leningrad in 1980 has been proved.     

Psychology at Leningrad State University

The articles in this issue of Soviet Psychology are all selected from a small publication of the psychology department at Leningrad University, Problems of General, Social, and Engineering Psychology, No. 2 (Leningrad University Press, 1968).     

Immunogenicity of a chromatographically concentrated influenza vaccine

The immunogenicity of the Czechoslovak-made commercial vaccine Adinvira as well as that of the chromatographically concentrated vaccine Leningrad of Soviet origin was evaluated in an immunization project. The both vaccines were well tolerated after administration, the Soviet-made Leningrad brand featuring greater efficiency in eliciting an antibody response against influenza virus haemagglutinin.     

To the revision of the Upper Ordovician <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bilobia</Emphasis> Cooper (Strophomenida,Brachiopoda)

The diagnosis and species composition of Bilobia Cooper, 1956 (family Leptestiidae, Strophomenida, Brachiopoda) are specified based on literary data and collection from the Leningrad Region. In particular, the cardinal process with cleft shaft and trifid myophore and denticles along the area of ventral valve are adduced to the diagnosis. A new species, B. alichovae sp. nov., from the Sandbian Stage of the Leningrad Region is established.     

Cloning of the hemagglutinin gene of influenza virus of subtype H3 in E. coli

dsDNA of the influenza virus subtype A/Leningrad/385/80/R (H3N2)-recombinant A/Leningrad/385/80 (H3N2) and RR/8/34 (H1N1) has been synthesized using polyadenylated viral RNA as a template. This dsDNA has been cloned on plasmid pUC19. A clone has been selected harbouring the plasmid with included proximal fragment of hemagglutinin gene that contains the main antigenic determinants. The hybrid plasmid is hybridizable with RNA of the hemagglutinin gene and with oligonucleotide CATGCAAAACCTTCCC that is complementing the sequence coding for the proximal fragment of the mature hemagglutinin.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from the bronchial contents of patients with inflammatory lung diseases

The study of the sensitivity of 2681 pneumococcal strains to antibiotics, carried out in 1976-1982, demonstrated that most of these strains circulating in Leningrad were sensitive to penicillin, levomycetin, erythromycin and oleandomycin. Penicillin-resistant pneumococcal strains were found to appear in 1980 and later showed a definite increase in number, reaching 4.4% of all strains in 1982. Simultaneously the appearance of levomycetin- and erythromycin-resistant strains and the increase of their relative significance were established. Most of the pneumococcal strains isolated in Leningrad were not sensitive to monomycin, streptomycin and tetracyclin.     

Fetal programming and the Leningrad Siege study.

The Leningrad Siege Study investigated the relationship between decreased maternal food intake and risk factors for coronary heart disease in adult life. The study screened 169 subjects exposed to intrauterine starvation during the Siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) 1941-4, 192 subjects born in Leningrad before the siege and 188 subjects born concurrently with these two groups but outside the area of the siege. No difference was found between the subjects exposed to starvation in utero and during infancy in glucose tolerance [in utero: 5.2 mmol/l (95% confidence interval 5.1 to 5.3; infancy: 5.3 (5.1 to 5.5), p = 0.94], insulin concentration, blood pressure, lipid concentration or coagulation factors. The intrauterine exposed group had evidence of endothelial dysfunction by higher concentrations of von Willebrand factor and a stronger interaction between adult obesity and blood pressure. Non-systematic differences in subscapular to triceps skinfold ratio, diastolic blood pressure and clotting factors were demonstrated compared to the non-exposed groups. In conclusion, this study did not find an association between intrauterine starvation and glucose intolerance, dyslipidaemia, hypertension or cardiovascular disease in adult life. These findings differ from studies of subjects exposed to maternal starvation during the Dutch Hunger Winter. However, the dissimilar effects of exposure to the two famines may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of the thrifty phenotype and support the importance of catch-up growth during early childhood, a situation that occurred in the Netherlands by not in Leningrad.     

Identification of Borrelia isolated in the USSR from Ixodes persulcatus Schulze ticks

The data on the identification of 7 spirochetal isolates from Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected in Leningrad Province and the Khabarovsk Territory are presented. These isolates, studied with the use of monoclonal antibodies, have been shown to belong to Borrelia burgdorferi.     

Hämatopoese beim Axolotl nach der Milzexstirpation

Ohne Zusammenfassung Vortrag, gehalten in der Pathologischen Gesellschaft in Leningrad am 29. V. 1927.     

Pneumococcus serotypes in acute and chronic inflammatory lung disease (1978-1980)

The comparison of the antigenic structure of the polysaccharide capsule in 342 pneumococcal strains isolated in Leningrad from the bronchial contents of patients with acute and chronic inflammatory pulmonary diseases indicated that during 1978-1980 a change in the composition of the prevailing groups of serotypes occurred every year. The comparison of the groups of prevailing pneumococcal serotypes isolated from children and adults has revealed no statistically significant differences in the specific prominence of different types, with the exception of serotype 15. Serotypes 6, 7 and 2 have been found to occur most frequently in acute pneumonia, and serotypes 23, 3, 9, 6, 15, 29 and 34 in chronic inflammatory pulmonary diseases. The preliminary data on the differences in the composition of the prevailing pneumococcal serotypes causing acute pneumonia in Leningrad and Kaunas have been obtained.     

Experimental and epidemiological estimation of seasonal and climato-geographical features of non-specific resistance of the organism to influenza

One and the same series of live influenza vaccine from the strains B/Dushanbe/66 and B/Leningrad/67 or A2/Moscow/21/65 administered intranasally to non-immune persons in Leningrad and 'krasnodar in winter caused an increase in body temperature in 6.7-8% of vaccinated subjects, but in summer in 0.8%. In the transitional seasons of the year (in May and in October), 6.3-16.8% of reactions were observed in Murmansk and 0.1% in Krasnodar. An increase in antibodies in the vaccinated in Leningrad and Arkhangelsk in winter was observed 1.5 times more frequently than in summer. In Krasnodar, seroconversion occurred in only 5.7% in May and october, but in 31.3% in January; in Murmansk in 41.2-48% in May and in 75.6-78.8% in October. The seasonal as well as latitudinal and climatic differences in reactogenicity and antigenic activity of the vaccine can be explained by seasonal oscillations in non-specific resistance of people of influenza viruses. The importance of this factor in the mechanism of seasonal occurrence of influenza is discussed.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of Haemophilus influenzae isolated from patients with inflammatory lung diseases

In 1980-1986 the sensitivity of 2,045 H. influenzae strains isolated from the bronchial contents of patients with inflammatory lung diseases were studied. This study revealed that 60-80% of H. influenzae cultures circulating in Leningrad were sensitive to tetracyclin, chloramphenicol and erythromycin. During the period of observation the tendency towards the decrease of the number of highly sensitive H. influenzae cultures and the increase of the number of strains resistant to all antibiotic preparations was followed. Most of H. influenzae strains isolated in Leningrad were sensitive to penicillin, oleandomycin and ampicillin. In 1983 the appearance of H. influenzae strains, multiresistant to antibiotics, was noted. In 1986 these strains constituted 4.5% of all isolated cultures.     

Einige Daten zur Frage von der Struktur der Thymusdrüse auf Grund experimenteller Forschungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Vorgetragen in der Sitzung der Histologischen Sektion des 3. Russischen Kongresses der Zoologen, Anatomen und Histologen am 14. Dezember 1927 (Leningrad).     

Einige neue Daten zur Frage von der Struktur der Schlussleisten und Becherzellen des Darmepithels bei Säugetieren

Ohne ZusammenfassungVortrag, gehalten auf dem III. Allrussischen Kongreß der Zoologen, Anatomen und Hystologen in Leningrad am 14. Dezember 1927.     

A New Outbreak of the European Spruce Bark Beetle,Ips typographus (L.) (Coleoptera,Curculionidae) in Leningrad Province

Entomological Review - A new and potentially severe outbreak of the European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus began in Leningrad Province in 2021. The permanent presence of the species in...     

Involvement of thalamic neurons and the striopallidal complex in maintaining constancy of visual perception in the human brain

Neuronal activity was investigated in different thalamic nuclei and the striopallidal complex in parkinsonian patients with long-term implantation of intracerebral electrodes in the structures concerned for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Directionally selective neurons were found with consistent response to presentation of visual stimuli oriented at the same angle in a variety of (spatial) head positions differing by 90°.Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 93–101, January–February, 1989.     

Additions to the check list of bark beetles (Coleoptera,Curculionidae: Scolytinae) from Leningrad Province,Russia

The field work of the authors during the last 16 years in both the western and the eastern parts of Leningrad Province, Russia, has resulted in the addition of 7 species to the regional list of bark beetles, namely: Hylurgus ligniperda F., Crypturgus subcribrosus Egg., Pityogenes irkutensis Egg., Scolytus mali Bechst., S. scolytus F., S. pygmaeus F., and Xyleborinus attenuatus Blandf. Of these species, P. irkutensis occurs only in the eastern districts of Leningrad Province, C. subcribrosus, over the whole territory, and the remaining species, only in the western districts. We suggest excluding Polygraphus proximus Blandf. from the regional faunal list. As a result, the updated list of the bark beetle species of Leningrad Province comprises 75 taxa. New data on findings of rare species in the region are considered.     

Long-Term Monitoring of the Numbers of Ixodid Ticks (Acari: Ixodinae) in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Province

Entomological Review - Changes in the distribution and abundance of ixodid ticks Ixodes persulcatus and I. ricinus in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Province over the period of 1970–2018 are...     

On a record of the spotted asparagus beetle <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crioceris duodecimpunctata</Emphasis> (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae) in Leningrad Province

The spotted asparagus beetle, Crioceris duodecimpunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) was recorded in Leningrad Province for the first time.