Characterization of antirubella vaccine in an epidemiological trial

The work was aimed at the evaluation of the antigenic activity and reactogenicity of antirubella vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, on the basis of the active observation of 373 children. Vaccinal reactions were registered in 8.8% of the vaccinees. Seroconversion after the injection of the vaccine was 100%. The results of the epidemiological trial demonstrated that the Indian antirubella vaccine was faintly reactogenic and had high antigenic activity.     

Properties of the isolated Bacillus subtilis strains and their influence on the intestinal microflora of experimental mice

The cultural, physiologo-biochemical adhesive and antagonistic properties of B. subtilis strains with good prospects for use as biotherapeutic preparations were studied. For further studies B. subtilis strain No. 1719 was chosen. In experiments on non-inbred white mice the animals were treated by the preparation Cifran used for their selective decontamination from opportunistic microflora and for the creation of the state of dysbiosis. The influence of the spore-forming microbe on the parietal microflora of the large intestine of the animals was shown. Reliable data on the changes in the number of microorganisms (CFU/ml) per 1 cm of the surface of the large intestine were established. As markers making it possible to evaluate the action of biotherapeutic and other medicinal remedies, easily determinable ratios of lac+/lac- of bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus/Staphylococcus spp. was proposed.     

PicU, a second serine protease autotransporter of uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is the major aetiological agent of urinary tract infections (UTI). Like diarrhoeagenic strains of E. coli, uropathogenic isolates possess virulence determinants that distinguish them from commensal strains and allow them to produce the clinical manifestations associated with UTI. Several autotransporter proteins have been associated with the ability of E. coli, and other Gram-negative bacteria, to cause disease. Recently, we described the existence within uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strains of Sat, a toxin of the serine protease autotransporter of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATE) subfamily. Using features common to proteins secreted via the autotransporter pathway we have identified nine additional autotransporter proteins from the genomic sequence data of UPEC CFT073. Surprisingly, two additional members of the SPATE subfamily were identified. One protein, designated PicU, was homologous to the Pic protein identified in Shigella flexneri and enteroaggregative E. coli. The PicU protein was expressed and investigated for functional activity.     

The AIDS epidemic: the spread of a deadly disease in the biotech era

In the last two decades we have witnessed the progression of a newly introduced infection in humans. It is sobering that despite a world-wide effort and the tremendous progression of technical capabilities and scientific knowledge we are still not able to control the global epidemic of HIV. In 2004 more than 40 million people were infected. Educational approaches to modify risk-taking behavior is still the most critical component of prevention and the most important measure to limit the spread of the infection. Vaccine development, which is still far from promising, is probably the only way to control the disease in the future.     

Extensive phenotypic variation in early flowering mutants of Arabidopsis

Flowering time, the major regulatory transition of plant sequential development, is modulated by multiple endogenous and environmental factors. By phenotypic profiling of 80 early flowering mutants of Arabidopsis, we examine how mutational reduction of floral repression is associated with changes in phenotypic plasticity and stability. Flowering time measurements in mutants reveal deviations from the linear relationship between the number of leaves and number of days to bolting described for natural accessions and late flowering mutants. The deviations correspond to relative early bolting and relative late bolting phenotypes. Only a minority of mutants presents no detectable phenotypic variation. Mutants are characterized by a broad release of morphological pleiotropy under short days, with leaf characters being most variable. They also exhibit changes in phenotypic plasticity across environments for florigenic-related responses, including the reaction to light and dark, photoperiodic behavior, and Suc sensitivity. Morphological pleiotropy and plasticity modifications are differentially distributed among mutants, resulting in a large diversity of multiple phenotypic changes. The pleiotropic effects observed may indicate that floral repression defects are linked to global developmental perturbations. This first, to our knowledge, extensive characterization of phenotypic variation in early flowering mutants correlates with the reports that most factors recruited in floral repression at the molecular genetic level correspond to ubiquitous regulators. We discuss the importance of functional ubiquity for floral repression with respect to robustness and flexibility of network biological systems.     

Protein synthesis-dependent reactivation of environmental conditioned reflex in terrestrial snails

We investigated influence of anisomycine injection on reconsolidation of contextual memory after development of environmental conditioned reflex in terrestrial snail Helix. Testing the amplitude of behavioral reactions (tentacle withdrawal) in response to standard tactile stimulation of the skin in two contexts: a) when the snail was fixed by the shell and was moving on the surface of the ball floating in water, or b) was moving on the flat surface of glass terrarium, has shown no difference in response amplitudes. After a session of electric shocks (5 days) in one context only (ball) the associative learning was clearly observed as the significant difference of response amplitudes in two contexts. On the other day following testing was performed a session of "reminding", immediately after which the snails were injected by anisomycine (control snails were injected by saline solution). Testing has shown that injection of anisomycine led to impairment of the context conditioning. Results suggest that the mechanisms of consolidation of new memory and memory reconsolidation after retrieval are not identical.     

Spectral analysis and fingerprinting for biomedia characterisation

Classical culture media, as well as domestic and/or industrial wastewater treated by biological processes, have a complex composition. The on-line and/or in situ determination of some substances is possible, but expensive, as sample collection and pre-treatment are often necessary with strict rules of sterility. More global methods can be used to detect rapidly "accidents" such as the appearance of an undesirable by-product in a fermentation broth or of a toxic substance in wastewater. These methods combine a "hard" part, for sensing, and a "soft" part, for data treatment. Among potential "hard" candidates, spectroscopy can be the basis for non-invasive and non-destructive measuring systems. Some of them have been already tested in situ: ultra-violet-visible, infra-red (mid or near), fluorescence (mono-dimensional, two-dimensional or synchronous), dielectric, while others, more sophisticated, such as mass spectrometry, coupled or not to pyrolysis, nuclear magnetic resonance and Raman spectroscopy, have been proposed. All these methods provide spectra, i.e. large sets of data, from which meaningful information should be rapidly extracted, either for analysis or fingerprinting. The recourse to data-mining techniques (the "soft" part) such as principal components analysis, projection on latent structures or artificial neural networks, is a necessary step for that task. A review of techniques, mostly based on spectroscopy, with examples taken in the bioengineering field in general is proposed.