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Acknowledgement to Referees

      

A comparison of the effects of laser and light-emitting diodes on superoxide dismutase activity and nitric oxide production in rat wound fluid

The action of laser and light-emitting diode radiation in the visible region on the content of reactive nitrogen species and activity of superoxide dismutase in rat wound fluid was studied, and efficiency of action of coherent laser and incoherent light emitting diode radiations in the red region of the spectrum on the parameters under study was compared. A model of incised aseptic wounds in rats proposed by L.I. Slutskiy was used. A He-Ne laser (632 nm) and a Y-332B light emitting diode served as radiation sources. It was shown that (1) exposure of wounds to the visible light of both laser and light-emitting diodes causes dose-dependent changes in superoxide dismutase activity and production of nitrites and (2) the radiation coherence does not play any significant role in the changes of superoxide dismutase activity or nitrogen oxide formation by wound fluid phagocytes.     

White-fronted and bean geese breeding near snowy owls,peregrine falcons,and rough-legged buzzards at the Taimyr Peninsula

Studies were carried out in 2000–2007 near Medusa Bay (73°21′N, 80°32′ E) and along the Agapa River (from 70°11′N, 86°15′ E. down to the mouth 71°26′ N, 89°13′ E), in the northwestern and central parts of the Taimyr Peninsula. White-fronted goose nests are usually spread in the tundra or placed in 1–3 nest colonies near nests or staging points of snowy owls, peregrine falcons, or rough-legged buzzards. The intent of white-fronted geese to breed near birds of prey or owls increases sharply when arctic fox numbers are high. In the area near Medusa Bay, white-fronted geese nest much closer to peregrine falcon nests than in the area along the Agra River. At the latter location, white-fronted geese lose the competition to red-breasted geese, which are more numerous here. Bean geese, in spite of their greater size and ability to protect their nests against arctic foxes, really tend to breed near peregrine falcons or buzzards, where they manage to compete with red-breasted geese.     

Identifying the neural circuitry of alcohol craving and relapse vulnerability

With no further intervention, relapse rates in detoxified alcoholics are high and usually exceed 80% of all detoxified patients. It has been suggested that stress and exposure to priming doses of alcohol and to alcohol-associated stimuli (cues) contribute to the relapse risk after detoxification. This article focuses on neuronal correlates of cue responses in detoxified alcoholics. Current brain imaging studies indicate that dysfunction of dopaminergic, glutamatergic and opioidergic neurotransmission in the brain reward system (ventral striatum including the nucleus accumbens) can be associated with alcohol craving and functional brain activation in neuronal systems that process attentional relevant stimuli, reward expectancy and experience. Increased functional brain activation elicited by such alcohol-associated cues predicted an increased relapse risk, whereas high brain activity elicited by affectively positive stimuli may represent a protective factor and was correlated with a decreased prospective relapse risk. These findings are discussed with respect to psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment options.     

Molecular-cellular characteristic of blood lymphocytes in Hodgkin lymphoma

The molecular-cellular parameters complex has been studied on the blood lymphocytes of malignant Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients: the frequency of cells with micronuclei (MN) and chromosome aberrations; the level of DNA single and double strand breaks - OR and DR DNA (DNA comet assay), oxidative status--the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by using nonfluorescent dye that is oxygenated in the cells to fluorescent reagent and detection of fluorescence intensity after there. It was shown that the patients with LH had the increased level of DR and OR DNA, the increased frequency of cells with chromosome aberrations and the number of aberrations per cell was increased too. The concentration of ROS is increased too for the most individuals with intoxication. In the process of the chemical and radiation therapy the increase of OR DNA level, the frequency of the cell with MN has been registered. The ROS concentration correlates with the level of DNA-strand breaks. So the blood lymphocytes of HL patients before treatment differ from the lymphocytes of healthy donors. The damage of genome and the change of oxidative status have been observed that can be additive markers for the HL diagnosis, their sensitivity to the treatment and the characteristic of lymphocytes changes by this disease.     

Distribution of fleas in rodent colonies in the Northwestern Precaspian region

Quantitative characteristics of phoresy of fleas on their rodent hosts inhabiting the sand landscapes of the northwestern Precaspian region were obtained. The structure of parasitic contact networks formed in the process was determined. The probability of a host change by fleas as the result of periodic feeding was assessed as high. The parameters of flea distribution were shown to be similar in the Northwestern Precaspian region and the Volgo-Ural sands. The ability of the flea Xenopsylla conformis to parasitize on social voles without significantly decreasing its abundance was revealed.     

Unusual peroxidase activity of polynitroxylated pegylated hemoglobin: Elimination of H2O2 coupled with intramolecular oxidation of nitroxides

Polynitroxylated hemoglobin (Hb(AcTPO)₁₂) has been developed as a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier. While Hb(AcTPO)₁₂ has been shown to exert beneficial effects in a number of models of oxidative injury, its peroxidase activity has not been characterized thus far. In the blood stream, Hb(AcTPO)₁₂ undergoes reduction by ascorbate to its hydroxylamine form Hb(AcTPOH)₁₂. Here we report that Hb(AcTPOH)₁₂ exhibits peroxidase activity where H₂O₂ is utilized for intramolecular oxidation of its TPOH residues to TPO. This represents an unusual redox-catalytic mechanism whereby reduction of H₂O₂ is achieved at the expense of reducing equivalents of ascorbate converted into those of Hb(AcTPOH)₁₂, a new propensity that cannot be directly associated with ascorbate.     

Autoimmune processes after long-term low-level exposure to electromagnetic fields (experimental results) part 5. Study of the influence of blood serum from rats exposed to low-level electromagnetic fields on pregnancy and fetal and offspring development

The work evaluates the possible adverse effects on pregnancy and fetal and offspring development arising from the injection of blood serum from rats exposed to microwaves at a power density of 500 μW/cm² into intact female rats. The study is performed on 59 pregnant Wistar rats. Intrauterine mortality, embryo and fetal body weights, and placenta weight are used for the evaluation of embryo and fetal development. Generally accepted integral and specific parameters are used for the evaluation of the postnatal development of offspring during the first 30 days of life. It is shown that injection of blood serum from rats subjected to long-term RF exposure at 500 μW/cm² into intact rats on the tenth day of pregnancy results in adverse effects on fetal and offspring development. Higher total in utero and postnatal mortality, as well as delayed offspring development, are recorded.