Diagnostic test system for the quantitative determination of Shigella antigens in patient blood by an immunoenzyme analytical method

The diagnostic test system under trial has been shown to permit the detection of S. sonnei and S. flexneri specific antigens with an accuracy of 10(-3) micrograms. Along with high sensitivity, the test system has sufficiently high specificity. Statistically significant differences in the occurrence of specific dysentery antigens and their levels in the blood of dysentery patients and healthy persons have been revealed.     

On the frequencies of nucleotides and nucleotide substitutions in conservative regulatory DNA sequences

We present data on the frequencies of nucleotides and nucleotide substitutions in conservative DNA regions involved in the regulation of gene expression. Data on prokaryotes and eukaryotes are considered separately. In both cases DNA strands complementary to those which serve as templates for RNA-polymerase have low frequencies of cytosine. The most conservative positions also have an increased frequency of adenine. Various substitutions in the series of homologous regulatory DNA sequences, as compared to their consensuses, have different frequencies. In prokaryotes guanine in a consensus sequence is substituted for at the lowest and adenine at the highest frequency, whereas in eukaryotes cytosine is substituted for at the lowest and guanine at the highest frequency. In both cases the nucleotides substituted for are most frequently replaced with cytosine. Deviations from consensus sequences tend to cluster in adjacent positions. The more pronounced the consequences of a nucleotide substitution are the higher is the frequency of substitutions in adjacent positions. Possible explanations for these phenomena are discussed.     

Thallium as an industrial poison (review of literature).

The presented reports on cases of occupational thallium poisoning clearly demonstrate that the possibility of their occurrence in industrial plants is very real. The number of such intoxications is much higher than that of non-industrial poisonings, but this is predominantly due to the less pronounced clinical picture and to the fact that specific tests for thallium are not performed. As a result, these cases partly escape registration altogether and partly are wrongly diagnosed. Thallium and its compounds belong to the first class of poisons, their dangerousness being enhanced by their easy permeability through the skin. Industrial thallium poisoning can be either acute or chronic, but in all cases, it is characterized by a long duration and severity of its course. Strict hygienic demands on the organization of the technological process and the measures of protection of persons working with thallium are indispensable. Compulsory examination of the urine of those working with thallium for the presence of this substance should also be introduced.     

Biomarkers of cerebral atherosclerosis: The potential for early diagnosis and individual risk prognosis

The article deals with the results of a study of “asymptomatic” patients with severe stenosing process in the brachiocephalic arteries (as a model of carotid atherosclerosis), with emphasis on the determination of biochemical markers associated with various stages of atherogenesis. The definition of a group of proatherogenic and atheroprotective biomarkers is suggested and substantiated. The article describes correlations among biomarkers that have a potential etiopathogenic nature, which necessitates further validation of these pathological changes in larger groups of patients.     

Structure of the crown of Siberian larch as a complex stability index of trees in the plantations of Krasnoyarsk

The state of larch plantations has been analyzed in residential districts of Krasnoyarsk differing in the level of air pollution. The crown structure is characterized and correlations are established between the habit signature and tree states observed in the regions with medium and high levels of air pollution. It is concluded that the sensitivity of correlation signs is high enough to reveal the changes in tree state that cannot be diagnosed by eye.