A complex medico-genetic study of West Siberian populations. I. Formulation of a problem. Goals and objectives of the study. Population genetic characteristics of Northern Khanty

Purposes and tasks of the complex medical and genetic study of West-Siberian inhabitants were formulated. Demographic parameters for the North Khanty inhabitants, such as size, dynamics of the tertiary sex ratio, marriage structure and migration processes were presented. Mating and intrapopulation migration patterns are determined by spatial subdivision, because of the vast territory and the traditional way of life, and by isolation by distance. Index of the isolocal endogamy equals to 0.364. The portion of mixed marriages is 22.7% and that of the gametic contribution of immigrants - 7.3%. Inbreeding coefficient by isonymy is 0.00097. Effective population size of the five subpopulations studied as a whole is 25% of their total number.     

A biometric study of some hybridizing Crataegus populations in Denmark

Crataegus curvisepala Lindm., C. laevigata (Poiret) DC. and C. monogyna Jacq. (Rosaceae) form hybrid complexes in Denmark due to introgression. C. palmstruchii Lindm. seems to be variously introgressed individuals of C. laevigata. C. eremitagensis Raunk., C. raavadensis Raunk. and C. schumacheri Raunk. apparently belong to C. curvisepala x laevigata. The delimitation between C. curvisepala x laevigata and C. laevigata x monogyna is discussed.     

On the history of nuclear matrix manifestation

The nonchromatin proteinous residue of the cell nucleus was revealed in our laboratory as early as in 1948 and then identified by light and electron microscopy as residual nucleoli,intranuclear network and nuclear envelope before 1960,This structure termed afterwards as “nuclear residue“,“nuclear skeleton“,“nuclear cage“,“nuclear carcass“etc.,was much later(in 1974) isolated,studied and entitled as “nuclear matrix“ by Berezney and Coffey,to whom the discovery of this residual structure is often wronly ascribed.The real history of nuclear matrix manifestation is reported in this paper.     

Does urbanization affect selective pressures and life‐history strategies in the common blackbird (Turdus merula L.)?

Urbanization, one of the most extreme land‐use alterations, is currently spreading, and the number of species confronting these changes is increasing. However, contradictory results of previous studies impede a clear interpretation of which selective pressure (nest predation or food limitation) is more important in urban habitats compared with natural situations, and whether birds can confront them by adjusting their life‐history strategies. We investigated life‐history syndromes of three common blackbird (Turdus merula) populations differing in their human influence (urban, rural, and woodland). We analysed daily nest predation and nestling starvation rates to assess the relative importance of these selection pressures in each habitat. Simultaneously, several life‐history traits were investigated to determine if T. merula seem adapted to their main source of selection. Food limitation was more important in the city, whereas nest predation was the most important selective force in the forest. The rural habitat was characterized by an intermediate influence of these two factors. Life‐history syndromes, as the covariation of a suite of traits, confirmed these results because T. merula seem well adapted to the main cause of selection in each habitat. Our results are consistent with urbanization imposing new challenges on birds, and that they adaptively respond to them. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 759–766.     

Effects of metabolic substrates and inhibitors on weak organic anion transport in rat renal proximal tubules

Stimulatory effects of intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle on renal uptake of a weak organic anion, fluorescein, were studied with the aid of the method of contact microfluorimetry of individual convoluted proximal tubules ascending to the surface of the rat renal cortex slices. The study was undertaken for verifying the hypothesis that energization of renal excretion of anionic exenobiotics is mediated through their transport across the basolateral membrane in exchange for cytoplasmic alpha-ketoglutarate serving as a counter-anion. Effects of inhibitors of the tricarboxylic acid cycle such as fluoroacetate, malonate and 5-methoxyindole-2-carboxylate on the fluorescein uptake and renal gluconeogenesis in the presence of the metabolic substrates were investigated in order to outline metabolic pathways that could be responsible for elevation of the cytoplasmic alpha-ketoglutarate. Obtained data evidence that the stimulatory effects of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates on the transport process under study depend on the metabolic state of the mitochondria and involve an activation of certain reactions but not the cycle as a whole. It has been suggested that an elevation of the cytoplasmic alpha-ketoglutarate resulting from this activation can be conditioned by export of isocitrate from the mitochondria with its subsequent transformation into alpha-ketoglutarate in the cytoplasm in the isocitrate dehydrogenase reaction.     

Acetylcholinesterase and the ADH-dependent transport of water in the amphibian bladder]

It was found that acetylcholine (ACh) at the concentration of 10(-3) M inhibited ADH-stimulated water transport through the wall of amphibian urinary bladder. This effect was suggested to be caused by an interaction of ACh with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) rather than by a stimulation of the M- or N-cholinoreceptor. The inhibitory action of ACh was completely suppressed in the presence of various AChE inhibitors (physostigmine, proserine, armine, Gd-42, acridine-iodmethylate), while an inhibitor of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), AD-4, failed to affect it. In accord with this observation the activity of AChE (but not of BuChE) was demonstrated in the urinary bladder epithelium. Since, in addition to the hydrosmotic effects of pituitrine, 8-arginine-vasopressin or oxytocin, ACh blocked also effects of forskolin or cyclic AMP, one may conclude that it acts at some post-cyclic AMP production stage. AChE-dependent inhibition of the ADH-stimulated water transport decreased significantly when the serosal pH was raising from 7.2 to 8.0, but was augmented by serosal acidification (pH 6.8), whereas such pH alterations did not affect the activity of the epithelium AChE. The effect of ACh under consideration was suppressed by adding amiloride (10(-4) M) to the serosal solution. Similarly, the ACh effect was blocked by an inhibitor of Ca-dependent K+ channels, 4-aminopyrdine, which in addition prevented the inhibition of the ADH-stimulated water transport by the serosal acidification. It was noteworthy that some other K+ channel blockers (Ba2+, Cs+, tetraethylammonium, apamine, quinine) did not affect either the water transport or the antipituitrine effect of ACh. In conclusion, we suggest that the inhibitory action of ACh on the ADH-stimulated water transport in the urinary bladder is mediated through the intracellular acidification resulting from ACh interaction with AChE. It is unlikely that the acidification is merely a consequence of the ACh hydrolysis, rather the ACh-AChE interaction induces directly an increase in the proton conductivity of the basolateral membrane of the urinary bladder epithelium.     

Quantification of the magnification and distortion effects of a pediatric flexible video-bronchoscope

Background

Flexible video bronchoscopes, in particular the Olympus BF Type 3C160, are commonly used in pediatric respiratory medicine. There is no data on the magnification and distortion effects of these bronchoscopes yet important clinical decisions are made from the images. The aim of this study was to systematically describe the magnification and distortion of flexible bronchoscope images taken at various distances from the object.

Methods

Using images of known objects and processing these by digital video and computer programs both magnification and distortion scales were derived.

Results

Magnification changes as a linear function between 100 mm (×1) and 10 mm (×9.55) and then as an exponential function between 10 mm and 3 mm (×40) from the object. Magnification depends on the axis of orientation of the object to the optic axis or geometrical axis of the bronchoscope. Magnification also varies across the field of view with the central magnification being 39% greater than at the periphery of the field of view at 15 mm from the object. However, in the paediatric situation the diameter of the orifices is usually less than 10 mm and thus this limits the exposure to these peripheral limits of magnification reduction. Intraclass correlations for measurements and repeatability studies between instruments are very high, r = 0.96. Distortion occurs as both barrel and geometric types but both types are heterogeneous across the field of view. Distortion of geometric type ranges up to 30% at 3 mm from the object but may be as low as 5% depending on the position of the object in relation to the optic axis.

Conclusion

We conclude that the optimal working distance range is between 40 and 10 mm from the object. However the clinician should be cognisant of both variations in magnification and distortion in clinical judgements.     

Properties of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from lingual taste papillae]

Phosphodiesterase activity is estimated in extracts and partially purified preparations from functionally different parts of bovine tongue. The enzyme activity varied from 4.0 to 10.4 nmole/mg of protein/min. Properties of phosphodiesterase from circumvallate papillae are studied, the pH optimum being 8.0--8.5, Km for cAMP--1.5.10(-4) M and for cGMP--6.5.10(-5) M. The enzyme activity did not change after the treatment with trypsin, protamine sulphate (0.01--1.0%), heparin (0.01--1.0) and taste agents: L-leucine (from 1.10(-2) M to 1.10(-5) M), quinine (from 4.10(-3) M to 4.10(-8) M) and D-glucose (from 1.10(-1) M to 1.10(-4) M). The protein inhibitor of the enzyme, isolated from retina external rod-cell segments considerably suppressed phosphodiesterase activity, and the protein activator from brain tissue stimulated it insignificantly. Thermostable protein modulators, which inhibit or activate (depending on experimental conditions) phosphodiesterase activity, are isolated from circumvallate papillae.     

Interaction of leucine with the plasma membranes of catfish taste buds

The binding of L-[3H]leucine by the plasma membranes from the catfish Ictalurus nebulosus taste organ was studied. The two types of specific binding centers for amino acid with high (KD = 2,5 X 10(-10) M) and low (KD = 1,04 X 10(-9) M) affinities were found. Concentrations of high and low affinity centers were 11,85 nmol/mg and 26 nmol/mg respectively. The structural rearrangement of the surface layer of the chemoreceptor membrane was revealed by spin label technique using 5-doxylstearic acid at leucine concentrations 10(-4)-10(-9) M.