[The Use of Specific DNA Markers for the Identification of Alleles of the FAD3 Genes in Rape (Brassica napus L.)].

A search was conducted for the alleles responsible for the quality of food-grade rapeseed oil in a collection of 21 samples of spring and winter oilseed rape of Belarusian and Russian breeding. We also developed A- and C-gene-specific DNA markers to assess the genomic polymorphisms of rape for FAD3 genes and selected plants with a low content of linolenic acid for use in the selection process. The development of a method for identifying FAD3 alleles, which control the level of linolenic acid in rapeseed oil, as well as of the design for new dCAPS markers, enabled the identification of plants homozygous for individual FAD3A and/or FAD3C genes in the F2-generation. These plants are currently involved in the selection process of new varieties with a reduced content of linolenic acid in rapeseed oil.

[Peculiarities of early rehabilitation of mountain ski athletes after plastic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament].

The primary objective of the present study was to estimate the effectiveness of the new methods of physical rehabilitation for mountain ski athletes designed to optimize and accelerate restoration of their professional capabilities after arthroscopic plastic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This open controlled prospective study involved 26 alpine skiers aged from 18 to 25 who were recruited into the regular follow up program based at our Centre during the last 3 years. The athletes proved able to start balance training on the Biodex platform 4 weeks earlier than with the use of the conventional approach. These exercises were supplemented by the training of speed endurance on the Speed Courte tensor platform and Sky Teck ski simulators. Control studies were carried out on the 16th and 24th weeks of the rehabilitation period. Their results were compared with the results shown by the same athletes before injury. It was found that the early introduction of exercises designed to normalize proprioception into the rehabilitative treatment allowed the injured mountain ski athletes to restore the strength of femoral muscles and specific professional skills by the 4th month of the rehabilitation period. It is concluded that the combination of classical rehabilitative techniques with balance training, Speed Court training, and training on the alpine ski simulator makes it possible to begin special of alpine ski training on the snow 2 months earlier than with the use of conventkional methods.

[The estimation of the effectiveness of early rehabilitation of the athletes practicing different sports after the knee injury with the use of specific simulators].

There are yet no optimal criteria to be applied in rehabilitative sports medicine for the estimation of the restoration of the athletes' physical conditions to enable them to return to their professional activities. The primary objective of the present study was to develop specific methods for the assessment of the physical performance of the athletes safe enough for the use at any stage of testing and sufficiently informative to give idea of the athlete's condition. To this effect, we compared the effectiveness of various testing procedures specific for different sports. We divided the athletes suffering injuries to the knee joint into two groups. The control group consisted of athletes that were tested by classical diagnostic methods employed in sports medicine. The study group was comprised of the athletes examined by the methods specific for a given sport. The effectiveness of diagnostic methods was estimated based on the calculation of the frequency of repeated injuries during two months after the athletes were permitted to resume training. Results. The study has demonstrated that specific methods designed for testing alpine skiers, hockey players, and football players are more specific and produce better results if used for the assessment of the athletes' physical conditions in combination with the conventional diagnostic tests. Such an approach makes it possible to decrease the number of repeated injuries.

[The heterogeneity of an influenza virus A population due to differences at individual hemagglutinin H3 sites]. / Geterogennost' populiatsii virusa grippa A, obuslovlennaia otlichiiami v otdel'nykh saitakh gemaggliutinina H3.

Using monoclonal antibodies to hemagglutinin and nucleoprotein of various influenza virus strains, the populations of long-passaged strain A/Hong Kong/1/68 and of recently isolated strain A/sparrow/Ukraine/83 belonging to the H3N2 serovariant were shown to have subpopulations of virions differing in the structure of antigenic sites of hemagglutinin and in nucleoprotein domain which correlated with the degree of electrostatic interaction of virions with an ion-exchanger. The results of the study indicate a possibility of separation in the course of stepwise ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-50 of antigenic variants of influenza virus strains which is very important for the understanding of the mechanisms of population variability as well as for investigation of individual epitopes of hemagglutinin and nucleoprotein domains of influenza virus in evaluation of antigenic relationships of virions belonging to the same strain of a certain serotype.

[The determination of the interdependence of the infectivity of different groups of birds with the influenza virus by using mathematical modelling]. / Opredelenie vzaimozavisimosti infitsirovannosti razlichnykh grupp ptits virusom grippa s pomoshch'iu matematicheskogo modelirovaniia.

When studying sera in the hemagglutination-inhibition reaction which has been taken from 772 fowls of 82 species caught in certain regions of the Dnieper in 1981-1987 the antibodies to 29 strains of the influenza virus are revealed, all of them being of human and animal origin. The serological examination has shown the circulation of the influenza virus with hemagglutinin H13 in a wide range of water fowls, the level of antibodies to it being dependent on the species of fowls and season. Using the mathematical simulation it was possible to establish the relation of the influenza virus infection in groups of semisynanthropic and tame fowls to the titre of antibodies determined in the synanthropic species as well as ecological insulation of the so-called "wild fauna".

[Detection of antibodies using recombinant strains of influenza viruses in the sera of various species of birds circulating in the territories of the Ukrainian and Azerbaijan SSRs]. / Vyiavlenie antitel s pomoshch'iu rekombinantnykh shtammov virusov grippa v syvorotakh razlichnykh vidov ptits, tsirkuliruiushchikh na territorii Ukrainskoi i Azerbaidzhanskoi SSR.

Examinations of blood sera from different species of birds trapped in the Ukrainian and Azerbaijan SSRs using diagnostic preparations from the influenza A/sea gull/Maryland/704/77 virus strain and a recombinant R117 derived from it revealed the presence of antibodies to hemagglutinin H13. The diagnostic preparation produced from the recombinant strain was found to be more active in the detection of antibodies in avian sera.

[Isolation of the influenza virus from the tree sparrow and a study of the infectivity of this virus in wild birds of the central Dnieper River area]. / Vydelenie ot polevogo vorob'ia virusa grippa i izuchenie infitsirovannosti dikikh ptits Srednego Dnepra étim virusom.

An influenza virus belonging to the serovariant A/H3N2 and registered as A/sparrow/Ukraine/83 was isolated from a member of synanthropic birds, a tree sparrow, near Kanev. This virus showed low pathogenicity and immunologic activity in experimental infection of sparrows and other birds. Sera from a number of avian and mammal species had antibodies to this virus which indicates that synanthropic and semi-synanthropic birds may be a connecting link in spread of influenza virus.

Role of the heterogeneity of A/Hong Kong/1/68 (H3N2) influenza virus populations in establishment of persistent infection of L cells.

Three subpopulations of A/Hong Kong/1/68 (H3N2) influenza virus differing from one another in biological properties obtained by elution from DEAE-Sephadex with phosphate buffer containing increasing concentrations (0.1, 0.5 and 1 mol/l) of NaCl, were used to induce persistent infection of L929 mouse fibroblast cells. In the course of 25 passages, cell destruction occurred only at low passage levels, especially in the LA-68/0.5 and LA-68/all. sublines. The proliferating activities of LA-68/0.1 and LA-68/1.0 were higher than those of the other two sublines. The size of cell nuclei in all infected sublines was increased. Influenza virus antigen was demonstrated by immunofluorescence in cells of all sublines. The virus was recovered irregularly and only at some passage levels: after 2, 2 and 5 chick embryo passages from the LA-68/0.5, LA-68/0.1 and LA-68/1.0 cells, respectively. The viruses recovered from the LA-68/1.0 subline possessed the lowest haemagglutinating activity against various animal erythrocytes.

Ultrastructural localization by immunoperoxidase techniques of influenza virus antigens in abortive infection of L cells.

An abortive infection was induced in L cells by influenza virus A/Hong Kong/68 (H3N2). With the use of antibody and peroxidase-labelled protein A, the localization of virus protein synthesis but not the maturation of virus particles was demonstrated at the ultrastructural level. Five days after inoculation (p.i.), the synthesis of viral haemagglutinin was localized in the region of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; at late intervals p.i., haemagglutinin accumulated in the plasma membranes, where membrane vesicles, containing haemagglutinin in their membranes, were released from the cell surface. The cytoplasmic viral ribonucleoprotein was localized in the region of free cytoplasmic ribosomes and that of the outer sheet of the nuclear membrane. Viral proteins were detected in the cytoplasm and plasma membranes also after 70 and 390 days of passaging of the cells or of their long-term cultivation with regular change of medium.

[Significance of the heterogeneity of an influenza virus population in the cytopathology of influenzal infection]. / Znachenie geterogennnosti populiatsii virusa grippa v tsitopatologii grippoznoi infektsii.

Separation of the allantoic cultures of influenza A/Hong Kong/68 and A/England/72 viruses on DEAE-Sephadex-A-50 with 1/15 M phosphate buffer solution containing 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 M NaCl (I, II, and III stages of elution, respectively) produced structurally (in size) and functionally (immunologic properties and invectivity for chick embryos) different subpopulations of influenza virus. When white mice were infected with the virus of the Ist and IInd stages of elution, marked proliferation and desquamation of alveolar cells, their hypertrophy and atypism were observed at 10-30 days, with moderately normal blood supply to the lung tissue. In the lungs of mice infected with virions of the IIIrd elution fraction there was no interstitial reaction and marked hemorrhagic component was observed. Virus persistence up to 6 months in the lungs was observed in mice infected with virus from the Ist and IIIrd elution fractions. The observed differences in the quality of influenza virus populations must be taken into account in evaluations of strain evolution at the expense of certain subpopulations and their implications in manifestations of infection and long-term persistence of virus.