Ultrasound-detected thyroid nodule prevalence and radiation dose from fallout

Settlements near the Semipalatinsk Test Site (SNTS) in northeastern Kazakhstan were exposed to radioactive fallout during 1949-1962. Thyroid disease prevalence among 2994 residents of eight villages was ascertained by ultrasound screening. Malignancy was determined by cytopathology. Individual thyroid doses from external and internal radiation sources were reconstructed from fallout deposition patterns, residential histories and diet, including childhood milk consumption. Point estimates of individual external and internal dose averaged 0.04 Gy (range 0-0.65) and 0.31 Gy (0-9.6), respectively, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.46. Ultrasound-detected thyroid nodule prevalence was 18% and 39% among males and females, respectively. It was significantly and independently associated with both external and internal dose, the main study finding. The estimated relative biological effectiveness of internal compared to external radiation dose was 0.33, with 95% confidence bounds of 0.09-3.11. Prevalence of papillary cancer was 0.9% and was not significantly associated with radiation dose. In terms of excess relative risk per unit dose, our dose-response findings for nodule prevalence are comparable to those from populations exposed to medical X rays and to acute radiation from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.     

Electrostatic electron vortex structure in a plasma in an external magnetic field

A previously developed method for describing vortex structures is used to construct electrostatic vortices in a plasma in an external magnetic field. An equation for the radial electric field that gives rise to azimuthal electron drift in crossed electric (E _r ) and magnetic (B _z ) fields is derived without allowance for the magnetic field of the electron currents. Two types of the resulting electrostatic vortex structures with a positive and a negative electric potential at the axis are analyzed. The results obtained are compared with experimental data on vortex structures.     

Effects of long-term isolation and anticipation of significant event on sleep: Results of the project “Mars-520”

The purpose of the research was to study the effects of long-term isolation on night sleep of the healthy human. The data were collected during international ground simulation of the interplanetary manned flight “Mars-500.” Polysomnography recordings of six healthy men were performed before, four times during and after 520-days confinement. During the isolation sleep efficiency and delta-latency decreased, while sleep latency increased mainly one month and half before the end of the isolation. Post-hoc analysis demonstrated significant differences between background and the last measure during isolation. Frequency of the nights with low sleep efficiency significantly increased before important events for the subjects, those like simulation of Mars landing and the end of the confinement. Two weeks after landing simulation the amount of the nights with low sleep efficiency significantly decreased. Therefore, anticipation of the significant event during long-term isolation might be an additional factor for sleep worsening and result in difficulties to fall asleep in previously healthy men.     

Reproduction and probing behaviour of the bird cherry‐oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi on detached leaves and leaves on intact seedlings of the winter host,bird cherry Prunus padus

Video recording and electrical penetration graph techniques are used simultaneously to investigate host acceptance (in terms of reproduction) and probing activities of autumn migrants (gynoparae) of the bird cherry‐oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) on detached leaves and on leaves on intact plants of the winter host, bird cherry Prunus padus. There are no significant differences between the times taken to first parturition or the number of nymphs produced over a 6‐ or 18‐h period on intact plants or detached leaves. Stylet probing activities (i.e. total probe duration, xylem ingestion, the time to first phloem contact and phloem salivation) are also similar in the two situations.     

Noninvasive diagnostics of bladder cancer based on analysis of telomerase activity and expression hTERT and hTR coding its subunits

In order to develop noninvasive diagnostics of bladder cancer (BC), telomerase activity has been examined by means the TRAP method (telomerase repeat amplification protocol) in tumor tissue and urine pellet samples taken from patients with bladder cancer. The levels of relative expression of genes encoding telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) and its RNA subunit (hTR) were evaluated by RT-PCR. Telomerase activity and expression of genes encoding its subunits were detected in both tumor tissues and in the urine cell pellet from each BC patient. Results of our study demonstrate possibility of noninvasive BC diagnostics using combination of these methods with sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 100% in the case of telomerase detection and with sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 100% in the case of hTERT detection in urine pellet samples.     

Phylogenetic position of the genus Gonocerca Manter, 1925 (Trematoda,Hemiuroidea), based on partial sequences of 28S rRNA gene and a reconsideration of taxonomic status of Gonocercinae Skrjabin et Guschanskaja, 1955

Adult trematodes of the genus Gonocerca Manter, 1925, are parasites of marine fishes. Identification of the phylogenetic positions and a revision of the taxonomic status of the subfamily Gonocercinae Skrjabin et Guschanskaja, 1955 (Derogenidae) are the main purposes of this research article. Four Gonocerca species were used in the study, including the type-species G. phycidis Manter, 1925. Molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on partial sequences of 28S rRNA gene, revealed that Gonocerca spp. are phylogenetically distant from other hemiuroid trematodes, including Derogenes varicus (Müller, 1784), representative of the type-genus of the family Derogenidae. The taxonomic rank of Gonocercinae should be raised to the family level. The generic composition of the family Gonocercidae Skrjabin et Guschanskaja, 1955 stat. nov., requires further clarification as the molecular data do not support the inclusion of the genus Hemipera Nicoll, 1913, in this family.     

Diversity of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">CO1</Emphasis> Gene of Mitochondrial DNA in Representatives of Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Antimora</Emphasis> (Moridae,Gadiformes) in the World Oceans

The frequency of occurrence of the COI gene of mitochondrial DNA in the Pacific flatnose Antimora microlepis and blue antimora Antimora rostrata (Moridae, Gadiformes) was analyzed in samples collected in different areas of the World Ocean. The revealed maximum haplotype diversity of COI in the blue antimora in the North Atlantics may indicate that this species emerged in this region, from which it widely distributed in the World Ocean. The Pacific flatnose Antimora microlepis originated from Antimora rostrata. Antimora might penetrate into the North Pacific by several routes: through the Panama Strait, along the coast of Antarctica, or through the Indian Ocean along the coast of Australia.     

Association between haematozoan infections and reproduction in the Pied Flycatcher

1. Parasites may affect breeding success of their host since they compete for the same resources as their hosts. Reproduction may also increase the susceptibility of a host to parasite infections owing to lowered resistance to parasites during breeding.
2. We studied the association between breeding performance and haematozoan parasite infection in the Pied Flycatcher ( Ficedula hypoleuca ) by using both natural data on reproduction and data from clutch size manipulations.
3. The most frequent blood parasites of the Pied Flycatcher in central Finland were Haemoproteus pallidus , Haemoproteus balmorali and Trypanosoma avium complex.
4. We did not find evidence that these haematozoan parasites have any debilitating effects on either reproduction or survival. The variation in reproductive effort did not seem to influence susceptibility to new blood parasite infections.
5. The intensity of Haemoproteus balmorali tended to increase in infected males as the brood size was artificially enlarged. Also, in females intensity of H. pallidus infection tended to increase with the level of clutch size manipulation. Thus, increased reproductive effort seems to debilitate the ability of Pied Flycatcher to control chronic infections.
6. Individuals with enlarged clutches/broods increased their reproductive effort at the expense of defence towards parasites. The cost of current reproduction may then be at least partly mediated by haematozoan infections.     

Methods for Screening Live Cells

Cell screening or, in other words, identification of cells with certain properties is now increasingly used in scientific and medical research, e.g., in diagnostics, drug testing, and production of cell clones with desired characteristics. In this review, we discuss existing methods of cell screening and their classification according to the cell presentation format. We describe the principles of the one-dimensional and two-dimensional formats and compare the main advantages and drawbacks of these formats. The first part describes the methods based on the 2D-format of cell presentation, when cells are immobilized in the same plane by various techniques. The second part describes the methods of the 1D-screening, when cells are aligned in a line in a stream of fluid and scanned one-by-one while passing through a detector. The final part of the review describes the method of high-performance cell analysis based on the merged gel technique. This technique combines the advantages of both 1D and 2D formats and, according to the authors, might become an effective alternative to many modern methods of cell screening.     

Inversion polymorphism of the malaria mosquito Anopheles messeae. VIII. Distribution of larvae in biotopes under conditions of co-habitation with Anopheles beklemishevi

The role of chromosomal variability was studied in the process of biotopical distribution of larvae of the sibling species Anopheles messeae and A. beklemishevi. It is shown that frequency of the inversions XL1, XL2, 2R1, 3R1 of A. messeae was changed in the lakes with different larval quantity of the sibling species. Mosquito of A. beklemishevi were developed in the suboptimal biotops having low larwal quantity of A. messeae with the analogous chromosomal arrangement 2R1. The larvae with "northeast" genocomplexes of A. messeae prevailed over A. beklemishevi in the lakes with high larval quantity and this prevalence determined dominant state of A. messeae. It is noted that natural selection on the preimaginal stages of development acts in the direction of karyotypic divergence of the sibling species and promotes more effective utilisation of food resources by each species.