Parameters of the innate and adaptive immunity in cosmonauts after long-term space flight on board the international space station

The results of the study of the innate and adaptive immunity indicators in 12 cosmonauts who took part in long-term (128–215 days) expeditions on board the International Space Station (ISS) are presented. It was shown that the space flight may lead to deviations in the human immune system. A decrease in the functional activity of phagocytes, NK and T-cells, as well as in the ability of immunocompetent cells to synthesize cytokines were observed. Significant individual changes were observed in the immune system’s response to a long-term space flight, which indicated an individual’s predisposition to the development of immune reactivity disorders under varying gravitation conditions.     

Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera) of Omsk Province

The fauna of the family Zygaenidae of Omsk Province is reviewed. 12 species are listed, among which 7 are recorded from this territory for the first time.     

On the growth of the blue king crab (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Paralithodes platypus</Emphasis>) population in the Peter the Great Bay of the sea of Japan

The causes of the appearance of large blue king crabs (Paralithodes platypus) in Peter the Great Bay for the last decade are discussed. This species is an important commercial resource in the waters of Russian Far Eastern seas, and its general concentrations are related mainly to the sublittoral and upper bathyal zones of the northwestern Bering Sea and the northern Sea of Okhotsk. Until recently, this species has been observed in areas along the continental coast of the northwestern Sea of Japan up to the Peter the Great Bay, where it incidentally showed up in red king crab (P. camtschaticus) and snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) catches but was also commercially used. This area was considered as the southern periphery of the species range. Since the late 1990s, both male and female blue king crabs have been recorded in trawl and trap catches during research works conducted within the Peter the Great Bay. Since 2002, any commercial catches of shelf crab species are prohibited in the waters south of 47°20′ N because of a dramatic decline in their populations. Since then all the illegally caught crabs, including blue king crabs that are seized live from poachers, are released back into the water in certain places of the bay. In total, at least 29 503 blue king crabs, including egg-bearing females, were released within the period from 2002 to November 2009. At present, the overall blue king crab abundance in Peter the Great Bay, estimated based on the trap catches over an area of 7048 km², is 50500, the abundance of commercial-size males (with a carapace width over 130 mm) is 7500, and the male to female ratio is 1.00: 1.35. The increase in the blue king crab population observed in the bay is the result of the immigration of mature and viable individuals from other areas of its range. After this “uncontrolled introduction” blue king crabs adapted to new conditions, and then began breeding and spreading over the entire area of the bay.     

A systems approach to morphogenesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis>: I. AGNS database

In systems biology, study of a complex and multicomponent system, such as morphogenesis, comprises accumulation of data on morphogenetic processes in databases, classification and logical analysis of this information, and computer simulation of the processes in question using the data accumulated and the results of their analysis. This paper describes realization of the first steps in a systems study of morphogenesis (annotating research papers, compiling information in a database, data systematization, and their logical analysis) by the example of Arabidopsis thaliana, a model object in plant molecular biology. The database AGNS (Arabidopsis GeneNet Supplementary; http://wwwmgs.bionet.nsc.ru/agns) contains the experimentally confirmed information from published papers on specific features of gene expression and phenotypes of wild-type, mutant, and transgenic A. thaliana plants. AGNS queries and logical data analysis with the aid of specially developed software makes it possible to model various morphogenetic processes from gene expression to functioning of gene networks and their contribution to the development of certain traits.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-(5-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-acetamide stereoisomers as novel positive allosteric modulators of sigma-1 receptor

Novel positive allosteric modulators of sigma-1 receptor represented by 2-(5-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-acetamide enantiomers were synthesised using an asymmetric Michael addition of 2-nitroprop-1-enylbenzene to diethyl malonate. Following the chromatographic separation of the methyl erythro- and threo-4-nitro-3R- and 3S-phenylpentanoate diastereoisomers, target compounds were obtained by their reductive cyclisation into 5-methyl-4-phenylpyrrolidin-2-one enantiomers and the attachment of the acetamide group to the heterocyclic nitrogen. Experiments with electrically stimulated rat vas deference contractions induced by the PRE-084, an agonist of sigma-1 receptor, showed that (4R,5S)- and (4R,5R)-2-(5-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-acetamides with an R-configuration at the C-4 chiral centre in the 2-pyrrolidone ring were more effective positive allosteric modulators of sigma-1 receptor than were their optical antipodes.     

A systems approach to morphogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana: I. AGNS database

In systems biology, study of a complex and multicomponent system, such as morphogenesis, comprises accumulation of data on morphogenetic processes in databases, classification and logical analysis of this information, and computer simulation of the processes in question using the data accumulated and the results of their analysis. This paper describes realization of the first steps in a systems study of morphogenesis (annotating research papers, compiling information in a database, data systematization, and their logical analysis) by the example of Arabidopsis thaliana, a model object in plant molecular biology. The database AGNS (Arabidopsis GeneNet Supplementary; http://wwwmgs.bionet.nsc.ru/agns) contains the experimentally confirmed information from published papers on specific features of gene expression and phenotypes of wild-type, mutant, and transgenic A. thaliana plants. AGNS queries and logical data analysis with the aid of specially developed software makes it possible to model various morphogenetic processes from gene expression to functioning of gene networks and their contribution to the development of certain traits.

     

The nature of electronic transitions in absorption spectra of phenyl-substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles and 1,3,4-sym-triazoles

The electronic absorption spectra of 1,3,4-oxadiazole, 1,3,4-sym-triazole and their phenyl derivatives were calculated within the -electron approximation, by the PPP-Cl procedure. The nature of the electronic transitions was analysed in terms of special quantum-mechanical excitation indices: excitation-localization indices and charge-transfer indices. An orbital analysis was performed within the framework of the structure-orbital approach. The transitions calculated for unsubstituted azoles should be treated as perturbed ones of the models-cys-azabutadiene molecule. In the case of phenyl derivatives one can classify the transitions as being either local or molecular in character. The dependence of their characteristics on the -system structure has been studied for the latter transitions. The results of the theoretical treatment are in good agreement with experimental data.     

Structure and basicity of 1,2,5-triphenyltriazole-1,3,4 derivatives

The molecular geometry, spectral luminescence properties, proton acceptor ability during the formation of H bonded complexes and monocation formation have been studied for a series of the new near-UV efficient laser dyes: 1,2,5-triphenyltriazole-1,3,4 (TPT) derivatives. It has been shown that the initial proton attachment to TPT molecules is directed to the triazole cycle imine nitrogen atom. The possible reason for the observed abnormally high fluorescence Stokes shifts typical of TPT neutral and cationic forms is discussed. The static mechanism has been demonstrated for TPT fluorescence quenching in acidic media.     

Structure of sterically hindered aryl derivatives of five-membered nitrogen containing heterocyclicortho-analogs of POPOP

The molecular conformation of three newly synthesized, sterically hindered aryl derivatives of five-membered nitrogen-containing heterocyclicortho-analogs of POPOP were studied by X-ray analysis and vibrational spectroscopy. It was shown that molecules of the compounds in the crystalline state and in solution are non-planar and asymmetric.