Effect of He-Ne laser radiation on the chemiluminescence of mouse spleen cells

A study was made of He-Ne laser radiation (lambda = 632.8 nm) on spontaneous chemiluminescence of mouse splenic cells and that stimulated by addition of Candida albicans. Irradiation with low-intensity red light was shown to stimulate cell chemiluminescence and to intensify that stimulated by C. albicans within the dose range from 100 to 300 J/m2 with a maximum at about 200 J/m2.     

Increased susceptibility of activated rat liver chromatin to DNAse I

Rat liver chromatin activated by partial hepatectomy is more susceptible to the action of DNAse I than control chromatin isolated from intact liver. The study on the transfer of chromatin material to the acid-soluble fraction reveals a higher rate of activated chromatin degradation. Activated chromatin shows also an increased capacity for ethidium bromide (EB) binding as estimated from the isotherms of adsorption. The difference in EB binding between activated and control chromatin is abolished after DNAse I treatment. Conditions of mild digestion with DNAse I have been found under which the number of binding sites for EB per nucleotide decreases to almost the same level in activated and non-activated chromatin. The results suggest a preferential degradation of those DNA sequences in activated chromatin that are responsible for the increase in the ligand binding.     

The 1st results in the realization of the Harm Reduction program for intravenous narcotic users in the city of Penza

To achieve the aims of the project, the following stages were consecutively defined: (1) the exchange of syringes, organized by outreach workers, with the simultaneous popularization of the project, (2) the orientation of intravenous drug users to attending syringe exchange stations and (3) the extension of the area covered by the activities of outreach workers. Our experience showed that outreach workers, especially those working in the street, were the main force to count on for achieving success in the work of the projects. The budget of the project should provide for the publication of information material. Special assignments for outreach workers to study some concrete problem (drug service, the use of blood, etc.) can be useful. It is expedient to raise the status of syringe exchange stations by turning them into multi-purpose consultation centers.     

Evolution of spore release mechanisms in the saprolegniaceae (Oomycetes): evidence from a phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer sequences

Classical studies on spore release within the Saprolegniaceae (Oomycetes) led to the proposition that different mechanisms of sporangial emptying represent steps in an evolutionary transition series. We have reevaluated this idea in a phylogenetic framework using internal transcribed spacer sequences of four genera. These data were compared with the response to osmotic stress exhibited by each taxon. Saprolegnia emerges as the most basal genus, sister to Achlya, Thraustotheca, and Dictyuchus. Achlya and Thraustotheca are most closely related, while Dictyuchus appears to have evolved along a separate evolutionary lineage. The resulting phylogenetic framework is consistent with the idea that the mechanism of sporangial emptying exhibited by Saprolegnia represents the plesiomorphic condition from which the other mechanisms were derived independently. These alternative mechanisms of spore release may have resulted from a small number of mutations that inhibited axonemal development and altered the temporal and spatial expression of lytic enzymes that degrade the sporangial wall. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

A technological approach to the description of group foraging in the ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Myrmica rubra</Emphasis>

Group foraging in Myrmica rubra ants is considered as a cyclic process in which transition from one phase to another is determined by summation of actions of individual ants inside the nest and in the foraging territory. In its turn, individual behavior is considered as a labile sequence of tasks, such as territory exploration, acquiring and transportation of food, the completeness of the sequence depending on the individual experience. Data on foraging of three experimental M. rubra colonies were represented as a relational database in MS Access 2007, and the database tools were used to study the interrelated characteristics of the two levels of the foraging process (group and individual) and to analyze the quantitative parameters of individual and group behavior.     

Changes in physicochemical parameters and α-crystallin expression in the lens during cataract development in OXYS rats

The pathogenesis of cataract is associated with oxidative stress and with altered crystallin expression but it is still understood incompletely. In this study, the senescence-accelerated OXYS rats were used as a model. The first biomicro-scopic signs of cataract in OXYS rats were registered at the age of 1.5 months; at 3 months morbidity reached 90%, and at 6 months it reached 100%. Cataract manifestation progresses: at 24 months mature cataract was detected in 90% of eyes of OXYS rats, whereas in 80% of Wistar rat eyes only initial signs of this disease were detected. Analysis of lens redox-parameters has shown that in OXYS rats the intensity of tryptophan fluorescence is higher, the GSH content being higher at 2 months but during formation of mature cataract at 13, 18, and 24 months being lower than in Wistar rats. Decrease in solubility of OXYS rat lens proteins was observed at the age of 13 months. At the age of 3 months gene expression of αA-crystallin and αB-crystallin was 3-fold and 25% lower, respectively, than in Wistar rats. At the age of 14 months there was a 27-fold decrease in expression of αB-crystallin in OXYS rats and it became 21-fold lower than in control. Proteins are synthesized in lens epithelial cells and dystrophic changes in senile cataract result in decrease in structural protein expression. The changes observed in OXYS rats are evidently associated with the dystrophic changes in lens epithelium, which we have described earlier, and are consistent with the model of senile cataract.