Changes in the Transcription of Proliferation- and Apoptosis-Related Genes in Embryos in Women of Different Ages under the Influence of Extracellular Vesicles from Donor Follicular Fluid In Vitro.

We studied the influence of extracellular vesicles from the follicular fluid of a young donor on gene expression (MKI67, MYBL2, CCNB1, CCND1, CCNE1, CALM2, BAX, NDRG1, TP53I3, VEGF, VCAN, HAS2, CTSL2, PIBF1, RPL37, PFKP, GPX3, and AQP3) in embryos of women of different ages. According to nanoparticle tracking analysis data, the concentration of extracellular vesicles was 3.75±0.47×1011 particles/ml and the mean particle size was 138.78±9.90 nm. During co-culturing of the follicular fluid extracellular vesicles with blastocysts of young women, we observed significantly increased expression of mRNA for genes CTSL2, CCND1, CCNE1, VEGF and reduced expression of BAX gene mRNA in comparison with embryos in women of late reproductive age. We hypothesized that addition of extracellular vesicles of the oocyte follicular fluid from a young donor to the culture medium of embryos could slow down apoptosis process typical of blastocyst cells in women above 36 years.

Variability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plus trees in the Middle and Upper Volga Region with the use of ISSR markers.

One of the serious issues in forest breeding is how to reduce the variability level in breeding populations of forest tree species that is a set of selected plus trees. The problem is that variability is jeopardized by the risk of losing the genetic diversity of future artificial forests, as well as emerging inbreeding depression in the seed plus trees progeny. DNA markers are an effective tool to study variability, identify features of the genetic structure and degree of plant differentiation. The research focuses on assessing the level of the genetic diversity and the degree of differentiation of plus trees of various geographic origin with the use of ISSR markers. We used six ISSR primers to study 270 plus trees grown in the Penza region, the Chuvash Republic, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Mari El Republic. The samples of plus trees under study were characterized by different levels of genetic diversity. Two hundred fifteen PCR fragments were identified for six ISSR primers in total, while the number of amplified fragments varied from 186 to 201 in different plus trees samples. The genetic variability varied within the following limits: 95.7-96.9 %, polymorphic loci; 1.96-1.97, the number of alleles per locus; 1.31-1.48, the number of effective alleles per locus: finally, 0.291-0.429, Shannon's index; 0.205-0.298, the expected heterozygosity. According to the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), 82 % of the variability of ISSR markers is typical for the plus tree samples, while only 18 % is variability among the compared groups of trees from different geographical zones. The dendrogram generated by UPGMA showed that the plus trees grown in the Penza region, the Chuvash Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan are similar in term of the genetic structure of plus trees, while the plus gene pool of Scots pine from the Mari El Republic stands alone. The results of the research prove that the level of genetic diversity, the structure of genetic variability, and the nature of differentiation of plus trees are consistent with those previously elicited for natural populations of Scots pine in the Middle and Upper Volga region.

[Risk factors of fatal outcome in pancreatonecrosis].

The article analyzed risk factors after operations for pancreatonecrosis in order to predict a course of the disease and carefully plan the treatment. It was revealed that the lethality level depended on different factors: the sex, age, a period of admission to the hospital, prevalence of necrotic suppurative process and severity of operative trauma. The authors made a conclusion of radical change to treatment approach. The open operations should be reduced at the expense of introduction of low-invasive methods of treatment in the case of pancreatonecrosis.

[Treatment of injuries and scar strictures of extrahepatic bile ducts]. / Lechenie povrezhdenii i rubtsovykh striktur vnepechenochnykh zhelchnykh protokov.

Results of treatment of 118 patients with trauma of bile ducts during cholecystectomy are analyzed. Rate of this complication ranges from 0.25 to 0.68%. Reconstructive surgeries on bile ducts were performed in 111 of 118 patients. Non-drainage variant of reconstruction of bile ducts was used only in 18 patients. Hepaticojejunostomy on removable transhepatic drainage was performed in the majority of cases. It is demonstrated that reconstructive surgeries on bile ducts must be performed early after trauma, just after arrest of bile peritonitis and other purulent complications. The best long-term results were achieved in patients who underwent reconstruction of bile ducts just after diagnosis of their iatrogenic injury on operation table. Postoperative lethality was 8.5%. Good long-term results were achieved in 81.4% patients. Repeated surgeries due to recurrences of bile ducts strictures were performed in 11.9% patients with good short-term results.

[Causes of lethal outcome in acute adhesive intestinal obstruction]. / Prichiny letal'nykh iskhodov pri ostroi spaechnoi kishechnoi nprokhodimosti.

Causes of 90 lethal outcomes from acute intestinal obstruction were analyzed. Among them diagnostic errors were made in 10% of cases, late admission to the hospital and prolonged conservative treatment resulted in death in 37.8%, operative and postoperative complications--in 52.2%. A complex system of measures is proposed to reduce lethality of patients with this disease including all the stages of diagnosis and treatment.

[Method of assessing the functional state of the human body]. / Metodika otsenki funktsional'nogo sostoianiia organizma cheloveka.

The article demonstrates an algorithm to evaluate functional state of operators exposed to ecologic hazards. The evaluation of the functional state includes analysis of the heart rhythm registered for 2 minutes. The functional state is assessed through an Indicator of Regulatory Systems Activity (IRSA), obtained by summation of all the values in modulus. IRSA values define 5 functional states: norm; functional strain moderate, marked and extreme; asthenia of regulatory systems. The algorithm suggested differs from the known ones in some features as follows. The diagnosis of heterotopic arrhythmia serves for more precise code demonstrating the heart automatism; formed on the basis of variation coefficient, the code demonstrating stability of the regulation proves the status of stable or disordered regulation; the code demonstrating activities of subcortical neural centers is formed on the basis of measured relative capacity of primary and secondary respiratory waves.

[Results of closed mitral commissurotomy after 20-25 years]. / Rezul'taty zakrytoi mitral'noi komissurotomii cherez 20-25 let.

The 20-25 year results of 486 closed mitral commissurotomies were analysed. The actuarial analysis demonstrated that 25-year survival was 59%, stable good results were 38%, repeated mitral interventions were performed in 31% of the patients. The patients' survival and functional results of commissurotomies depend on early surgery which should be done in patients with severe and acute mitral stenosis prior to the development of drastic valvular changes, calcinosis, regurgitation, atrial fibrillation, cardiomegaly, atrial thrombosis and other complications. Timely mitral commissurotomy is a rather effective palliative intervention in uncomplicated mitral stenosis.

[The screening diagnosis of bronchitis and its premorbid states in the workers of the nonferrous metallurgy enterprises of the Arctic]. / Skrining-diagnostika khronicheskogo bronkhita i ego premorbidnykh sostoianii u rabochikh predpriiatii tsvetnoi metallurgii Zapoliar'ia.

Mass screening diagnosis of the workers and employees engaged in nickel industry of the Noril'sk industrial region (n = 3049) according to the clinico-epidemiological program of the All-Union Research Institute of Pulmonology demonstrated a high incidence of chronic bronchitis (CB) and its preclinical conditions. The persons at risk for CB accounted for 41.5%, for prebronchitis for 23%, and those with CB for 19%. Among men, CB and its preclinical forms were demonstrable at a greater rate (63.7%). The disease prevalence depends on the time of residence in the Extreme North. Irregularity of the disease prevalence among different occupational groups is determined not only by the industrial and hygienic working conditions but also by the whole complex of ecological factors of the extreme region.

[MKCh-25 ball prosthesis in correction of isolated defect of the mitral valve]. / Sharovoi protez MKCh-25 v korrektsii izolirovannogo poroka mitral'nogo klapana.

The article analyses the immediate and late-term results of mitral valve replacement by a MK4-25 ball prosthesis in 605 patients with mitral valvular disease. Operative lethality for the last 100 operations was 6%. The late-term results of valve replacement were studied in 381 patients in follow-up periods of 6 months to 17 years. 17-year survival was 69% among patients who underwent operation in functional class III and 48.8% among those operated on in class IV. The survival of patients and the late-term functional results depended on the duration of the disease and the degree of circulatory insufficiency before the operation. Timely implantation of a ball prosthesis corrects the hemodynamic disorders satisfactorily and improves the survival of patients.

[Patient survival over 20 to 25 years after mitral commissurotomy]. / Vyzhivaemost' bol'nykh cherez 20--25 let posle mitral'noi komissurotomii.

The authors report that 282 of 457 patients (62%) are alive for 20-25 years after mitral commissurotomy. The twenty-five-year survival is higher in women (70%) than in men (30%).

[Results of long-term electrocardiographic examinations of cosmonauts]. / Rezultaty dlitel'nykh élektrokardiograficheskikh nabliudenii za kosmonavtami.

This paper is the first summary of regular electrocardiographic examinations of 21 cosmonauts who made 42 space flights during the years 1964 through 1985. Electrocardiographic examinations were performed before, during and after flight. The most common ECG abnormality recorded was extrasystolic arrhythmia that occurred very frequently during provocative tests. In long-term flights changes in the phase of ventricular repolarization were predominant due to the effects of microgravity and other fright factors. The ECG changes were transient and of insignificant prognostic value. Long after return to the Earth three cosmonauts developed ECG changes typical of myocardial infarction, hypertension or hypertension combined with latent ischemic heart disease. It is maintained that these pathologies were not caused by the exposure to space flight effects.