Charge density waves tuned by biaxial tensile stress.

The precise arrangement and nature of atoms drive electronic phase transitions in condensed matter. To explore this tenuous link, we developed a true biaxial mechanical deformation device working at cryogenic temperatures, compatible with x-ray diffraction and transport measurements, well adapted to layered samples. Here we show that a slight deformation of TbTe3 can have a dramatic influence on its Charge Density Wave (CDW), with an orientational transition from c to a driven by the a/c parameter, a tiny coexistence region near a = c, and without space group change. The CDW transition temperature Tc displays a linear dependence with a / c - 1 while the gap saturates out of the coexistence region. This behaviour is well accounted for within a tight-binding model. Our results question the relationship between gap and Tc in RTe3 systems. This method opens a new route towards the study of coexisting or competing electronic orders in condensed matter.

Correlation of Serum Endocan Level With Apoptosis Indicators and Severity of Atherosclerotic Lesions of Coronary Arteries in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease.

Aim    To study the relationship of blood serum concentration of endocan with indexes of apoptosis and clinical and instrumental characteristics of patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD).Material and methods    The study included 176 subjects (105 men and 71 women). 150 of them were diagnosed with IHD and 26 were healthy volunteers. Anthropometric measurements, coronary angiography, echocardiography, duplex ultrasound scanning of extracranial parts of the brachiocephalic arteries were performed for all patients. Concentrations of endocan (ng / ml), glucose (mmol / l), and apoptotic markers Bcl-2 (ng / ml), Bax (ng / ml), Bcl-2 / Bax, TRAIL (pg / ml), and p53 (ng / ml) were measured in blood serum. Patients were divided into groups based on their SYNTAX scores: group 1 with moderate atherosclerotic lesions of the coronary arteries (CA) (score < 22, 78 patients); group 2 with severe CA atherosclerosis (score 23-32, 37 patients); and group 3 with extremely severe CA lesions (score >33, 35 patients). The control group consisted of healthy volunteers (26 subjects). All groups were age- and sex-matched. Differences were considered statistically significant at p<0.05.Results    A correlation was found between endocan concentration and IHD severity (r=0.32, p<0.001). In group 1, the median endocan concentration was 14.57 ng / ml [8.21; 23.66], in group 2, 19.34 ng / ml [8.425; 26.645], in group 3, 32.13 ng / ml [18.2; 39.12], and in the control group, 6.92 ng / ml [4.62; 9.18]. Correlations of varying strength and significance were observed between the endocan concentration and a number of clinical and instrumental characteristics. Endocan concentrations significantly differed in groups of patients with multifocal atherosclerosis (p<0.01), angina pectoris (p<0.01), a history of myocardial infarction (p<0.001), and obesity (p<0.05) from patients without these signs. Also, a correlation was found between serum endocan concentration and apoptotic markers: TRAIL (r= -0.448, p<0.001); BCL-2 (r= -0.552, p<0.001), Bax (r= -0.519, p<0.001), Bcl-2 / Bax (r= -0.576, p<0.001) and p53 (r= -0.520, p <0.001).Conclusion    The study demonstrated a potential role of endocan as a promising biomarker for risk stratification, prognosis and therapeutic monitoring of IHD patients.

[Impact of essential oil vapors inhalation on blood pressure in patients with hypertension]. / Vliyanie ingalyatsii parami efirnykh masel na arterial'noe davlenie u lits s gipertenziei.

Increase of patients with hypertension in the world determines the search for new, accessible, easily applicable and mildly effective antihypertensive agents, particularly essential oils (EO). Currently available studies of the EO impact on blood pressure do not allow to assess the efficiency of such therapy. OBJECTIVE: To perform the comparative study of antihypertensive effects of inhalation with EO vapors of various composition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The investigation included 849 women aged 55-89 years with hypertension. Two examination series were done: 10- and 20-minute duration procedures. Trial subjects were divided into control (psychorelaxation procedure) and experimental (psychorelaxation procedure combined with the EO inhalation of common basil, Italian immortelle, clove tree, common hyssop, cardamom, coriander, Caucasian nepeta, nepeta cataria, spicate lavender, bay laurel, the sort «Oxamitov¼ of brook-mint, the sorts «Prilutskaya¼, «Udaichanka¼, «Ukrainian¼ of pepper mint, the Siberian fir, Tauric wormwood, the sort «Crimean red¼ of rose, rosmarinus officinalis, Scotch pine, fennel, mountain savory, garden savory and clary sage; EO concentration in air - 1 mg/m3) groups. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate were measured, as well as the coefficient of blood circulation efficiency and Robinson index were calculated before and after the examination in trial subjects. RESULTS: It has been established that the EO of clary sage, bay laurel, Caucasian nepeta and the sort «Oxamitov¼ of brook-mint have antihypertensive action at both 10-minute and 20-minute exposure. The antihypertensive action of EO of common basil, clove tree, coriander, nepeta cataria, the sort «Crimean red¼ of rose, rosmarinus officinalis, garden savory was found after 10-minute exposure. There was no antihypertensive action in EO application of Italian immortelle, common hyssop, spicate lavender, the sorts «Prilutskaya¼, «Ukrainian¼, «Udaichanka¼ of pepper mint, Siberian fir, tauric wormwood, Scotch pine and fennel. CONCLUSION: The EO vapors' inhalation of clary sage, bay laurel, Caucasian nepeta, the sort «Oxamitov¼ of brook-mint, common basil, clove tree, coriander, nepeta cataria, the sort «Crimean red¼ of rose, rosmarinus officinalis and garden savory can be a promising method to reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension.

[Influence of essential oils of plants on the psycho-emotional state of elderly people.]

The possibility of improving the psycho-emotional state of the elderly by inhaling the vapors of essential oils (EO) of plants at a low concentration (1 mg/m3 of air) has been established. To obtain a quick short-term result, mainly in terms of psychological well-being, EOs of coriander and mountain savory are most suitable. A distant, but more pronounced result in terms of both psychological well-being and psychological tone is given by EO of hyssop officinalis and clove tree.

[Weather and climatic factors at the resort of the Southern coast of Crimea in the medical rehabilitation of patients with hypertension]. / Pogodno-klimaticheskie faktory na kurorte Yuzhnogo berega Kryma v meditsinskoi reabilitatsii patsientov s gipertonicheskoi bolezn'yu.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of weather and climatic factors of the South Coast of Crimea (SCC) on the effectiveness of health resort medical rehabilitation (MR) of patients with arterial hypertension (AH). MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty-four patients with AH were examined. The effect of weather and climatic factors of the SCC was assessed using the methods of Modified Clinical Weather Pathogenicity Index (CWPI-M, developed at the I.M. Sechenov Institute) and assessment of medical rehabilitation according to International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) criteria. RESULTS: The regression equations for the change of ICF domains b2401, b420, b4301, b4552, d240 and the change of mean values of all domains depending on air temperature and humidity, wind velocity, amount of clouds, variability of air temperature, and atmospheric pressure were developed. The equations permit the generation of reliable rehabilitation prognosis for patients with AH for all terms of health resort care at the SCC. CONCLUSIONS: The use of CWPI-M makes it possible to form a rehabilitation prognosis for patients with AH based on certain ICF domains. The best rehabilitation prognosis for the SCC resorts is for the warm period of the year.

The toxic mode of action of cyclic lipodepsipeptide fusaricidins, produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa, toward mammalian cells.

AIMS: Toxigenic strains of Paenibacillus polymyxa were isolated from buildings connected with the symptoms of ill health. Our aim was to identify the toxic compounds of Paenibacillus polymyxa and to describe their toxic actions. METHODS AND RESULTS: The toxins of Paenibacillus polymyxa were purified and analysed by HPLC and mass spectrometry. Toxic fusaricidins A and B, and LI-F05a with mass ions at m/z 883·7, 897·6 and 897·6, respectively, were found. The cytotoxicity of purified fusaricidins A and B was measured using boar sperm, porcine tubular kidney epithelial cells and murine fibroblasts. The ion channel forming properties of fusaricidins were studied using the black lipid membrane (BLM) technique. Fusaricidins A and B depolarized the mitochondria of boar sperm, porcine tubular kidney epithelial cells and murine fibroblasts at concentrations of 0·5-1 µg ml-1 and caused nuclear fragmentation and induced apoptosis at concentrations of 2·5-5 µg ml-1 . Furthermore, fusaricidins A and B induced K+ permeating single channels. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that fusaricidins were toxic to mitochondria and induced apoptosis in mammalian cells. It was proposed that the observed toxicity of fusaricidins is due their ion channel forming properties. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This paper revealed, for the first time, the mode of action of Paenibacillus polymyxa fusaricidins toxins towards mammalian cells. Fusaricidins, due to their potassium ionophoricity and mitochondria depolarizing impacts, may have contributed to the health damage observed at sites where the producer strains were isolated at high density.

[PROPERTIES OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE VOLUTIN GRANULES UNDER CONDITIONS OF THE CHANGE OF SPACE WEATHER].

In this work, the impact of space weather on the staining and the motility of volutin granules ("dancing bodies") in vacuoles of yeast Saccharoniyces cerevisiae with normal and changed phosphoric metabolism was studied. It was showed that the installed ear- lier relation between metachromatic reaction of volutin granules and galactic cosmic rays was confirmed by DAPI-staining of inorganic polyphosphates in cells S. cerevisiae UCM Y-517. The inverse correlation of efficiency of DAPI-staining of volutin granules with some solar activity indexes was observed. During the period of study, the rhythmicity of motile volutin granules in the studied cultures (S. cerevisiae UCM Y-517, S. cerevisiae CRY, S. cerevisiae CNX) was marked. The strains S. cerevisiae UCM Y-517 and CRY, both with unmodified phosphoric metabolism, showed the same rhythmicity of mobile volutin granules. However, this rhythmicity in the strain CNX, which cannot synthesize exopolyphosphatases PPX1 and PPN1 (CF 3.6.1.11), was changed. The volutin granule motion coincided with the rhythmicity of galactic cosmic rays within the period of 9 days. It can be suggested that "dancing bodies" are synchronized with rhythms of galactic cosmic rays. Observed differences between mutant and parental strains may indirectly indicate participation of polyphosphates in the reaction of cells on the changes of space weather pa- rameters. Thus, correlating variability of staining and motion of polyphosphate-containing volutin granules under action of cosmophysical factors may be an evidence of possible key role of phosphoric metabolism in sensitivity of yeast cells to space weather changes.

[Potential-dependent Cation Selective Ion Channels Formed by Peroxiredoxin 6 in the Lipid Bilayer].

The antioxidant enzyme peroxiredoxin 6 forms cation selective ion cluster-type channels in the lipid bilayer. Channel clustering as oligomeric structure consists of three or more subunits--channels with conductance of about 350 pS in the 200 mM KCl. Mean dwell time of the channel's open states decreases with increasing membrane voltage. A possible molecular mechanism of the observed potential-dependent inactivation of the channel cluster is discussed.

Spontaneous breaking of isotropy observed in the electronic transport of rare-earth tritellurides.

We show that the isotropic conductivity in the normal state of rare-earth tritelluride RTe3 compounds is broken by the occurrence of the unidirectional charge density wave (CDW) in the (a, c) plane below the Peierls transition temperature. In contrast with quasi-one-dimensional systems, the resistivity anomaly associated with the CDW transition is strong in the direction perpendicular to the CDW wave vector Q (a axis) and very weak in the CDW wave vector Q direction (c axis). We qualitatively explain this result by calculating the electrical conductivity for the electron dispersion with momentum-dependent CDW gap as determined by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Similar measurements of in-plane conductivity may uncover the gap anisotropy in other compounds for which angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is not available.

Morphofunctional analysis of experimental model of esophageal achalasia in rats.

We carried out a detailed analysis of rat model of esophageal achalasia previously developed by us. Manifest morphological and functional disorders were observed in experimental achalasia: hyperplasia of the squamous epithelium, reduced number of nerve fibers, excessive growth of fibrous connective tissue in the esophageal wall, high contractile activity of the lower esophageal sphincter, and reduced motility of the longitudinal muscle layer. Changes in rat esophagus observed in experimental achalasia largely correlate with those in esophageal achalasia in humans. Hence, our experimental model can be used for the development of new methods of disease treatment.

DBT degradation enhancement by decorating Rhodococcus erythropolis IGST8 with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Biodesulfurization (BDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was carried out by Rhodococcus erythropolis IGST8 decorated with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles, synthesized in-house by a chemical method, with an average size of 45-50 nm, in order to facilitate the post-reaction separation of the bacteria from the reaction mixture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the magnetic nanoparticles substantially coated the surfaces of the bacteria. It was found that the decorated cells had a 56% higher DBT desulfurization activity in basic salt medium (BSM) compared to the nondecorated cells. We propose that this is due to permeabilization of the bacterial membrane, facilitating the entry and exit of reactant and product, respectively. Model experiments with black lipid membranes (BLM) demonstrated that the nanoparticles indeed enhance membrane permeability.

Slow oscillations of magnetoresistance in quasi-two-dimensional metals.

Slow oscillations of the interlayer magnetoresistance observed in the layered organic metal beta-(BEDT-TTF)(2)IBr(2) are shown to originate from the slight warping of its Fermi surface rather than from independent small cyclotron orbits. Unlike the usual Shubnikov-de Haas effect, these oscillations are not affected by the temperature smearing of the Fermi distribution and can therefore become dominant at high enough temperatures. We suggest that the slow oscillations are a general feature of clean quasi-two-dimensional metals and discuss possible applications of the phenomenon.

Differences in ion-channel formation by ampullosporins B, C, D and semisynthetic desacetyltryptophanyl ampullosporin A.

Peptaibol-type ampullosporins B (2) and D (4) are capable of forming ion-conducting pores in planar lipid bilayer membrane prepared from soybean phosphatidylcholine in a similar manner as it was shown for ampullosporin A (1). However, the isomeric ampullosporin C (3) was required in 20-fold higher concentration to afford a comparable effect. In contrast to 1, 2, 3 and 4, the desacetyltryptophanyl ampullosporin A (5) failed to form ion channels. The results suggest that the sequence of amino acids especially at positions 8-10, the nitrogen-terminal acetyl residues and tryptophane are major factors determining ion-channel formation within bilayer membranes. The differences in membrane activities were comparable to the observed biological activities.

Synthesis and biological activity of chiral tetrahydrofuranyl amino acids as building moieties of pamamycin analogues.

A new synthetic route to chiral tetrahydrofuranyl amino acids is described starting with D-glucose. The 17-step and a 20-step procedures, respectively, furnished compounds of the general formulas 1 and 2 mimicking the dimethylamino carboxylic acid part of pamamycin (3). In comparison with the absolute stereochemistry of 3 the acyclic compounds 1a-c and 2a-c are enantiomers. Despite of the presence of a dimethylamino function they showed neither antibacterial activity nor protonophoric effects on an artificial bilayer membrane suggesting that the macrodiolide ring of 3 forms an indispensable prerequisite for the known interaction of this antibiotic with biological systems.

Determinants of segregational stability of the linear plasmid-prophage N15 of Escherichia coli.

N15 is a bacteriophage of Escherichia coli that resembles lambda, but, unlike lambda, it lysogenizes as a linear plasmid. We show that stable maintenance of this unusual plasmid-prophage depends on the parA and parB genes, relatives of the partition genes of F and P1 plasmids. ParB of N15, like its F- and P1-encoded homologues, destabilizes plasmids carrying its target centromere, when present in excess. Within the genome of N15, we identified four unlinked, palindromic sequences that can promote the ParB-mediated destabilization of a moderate-copy vector in cis. They are distant from the parAB operon, unlike the centromeric sites of F and P1. Each of these palindromes could interact in vivo and in vitro with ParB. Each, when cloned separately, had properties characteristic of centromeric sites: exerted incompatibility against the N15 prophage and mini-N15 plasmids, and stabilized a mini-P1 plasmid depleted of its own partition genes when ParA and ParB of N15 were supplied. A pair of sites was more effective than a single site. Two of the centromeric sites are located in the proximity of promoters of phage genes, suggesting that, in addition to their function in partitioning of N15 prophage, they may control expression of N15 lytic functions.

Cation selective ion channels formed by macrodiolide antibiotic elaiophylin in lipid bilayer membranes.

The macrodiolide antibiotic elaiophylin (1) forms stable, long-lasting cation selective ion channels in planar lipid bilayer membranes prepared from soybean phosphatidylcholine. Current of the single ion channel displayed two sublevels corresponding to the two substates of the channel conductance: a slow substate, with about 5 s of mean dwell time in the open state at 40% level of the total amplitude conductance, and a fast substate of higher conductance with dwell times in the open and closed state of about 0.1 s. Amplitude conductances of the single ion channels in 200 mM of LiCl, NaCl, KCl, RbCl and CsCl were 75, 140, 220, 240 and 226 pS, and the conductance was linear function of the electrolyte concentration. Ratios of cation to anion permeabilities of the channel for NaCl and KCl were 8+/-2 and >24, respectively. A molecular model of the channel structure is suggested.

Study of F-actin interaction with planar and liposomal bilayer phospholipid membranes.

Interaction of the cytoskeletal protein F-actin with planar bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) induced formation of single ionic channels in both NaCl and KCl bathing solutions. We also recorded noiselike high-currentjumps with a mean conductivity of approximately 160 pS, which might represent the simultaneous opening and closing of several channels of lower conductivity. The ratio of cation to anion permeabilities (Pc/Pa) of the BLM with many channels in KCl was 26 +/- 2. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy revealed fibrillar-like structures on the hydrophobic surfaces of liposomal membranes. We also observed some structural features giving evidence for the penetration of F-actin fibers through an artificial phospholipid membrane. We suggest that the F-actin/lipids complexes can transmit electric signals in synaptic and other intercellular contacts.