[Local management of purulent wounds with wound dressings]. / Mestnaya terapiya gnoinykh ran ranevymi pokrytiyami.

Purulent-inflammatory lesions of skin and soft tissues account for 30-35% of causes of admission to surgical hospitals. In outpatient system, this value reaches 35-60%. Moreover, suppuration of wounds after elective surgery occurs in 2-5% of cases. Adequately selected drugs for local wound therapy can achieve localization of purulent process and avoid spread of infection. This review summarizes data on development, experimental and clinical testing of wound dressings over the past 10 years, presents classification options and analyzes their advantages and disadvantages. The authors emphasize higher efficacy of hydrophilic coatings, and coatings based on chitosan, collagen, methylcellulose and its derivatives are preferred. It is advisable to introduce a component with antimicrobial, anesthetic and hemostatic activity stimulating tissue regeneration into the matrix of wound dressing. The priority is introduction of antiseptic substances causing fewer side effects compared to antibiotics. Further research and development of new wound dressings is a priority in surgery considering changing landscape and development of resistance of microorganisms.

[Modern concept about trophic venous ulcers]. / Venoznye troficheskie yazvy.

Venous trophic ulcer is a common complication of chronic venous diseases that have a negative impact on the quality of life and result negative socio-economic consequences. There are three main theories of development of venous trophic ulcers. The criterion is visible trophic changes of skin (CEAP class C4). If correction of etiological factor of ulcer is impossible, local management is preferred. There are various wound coverings which can be used for the treatment of trophic ulcers. However, data on their effectiveness are sometimes unavailable. Therefore, it is necessary to systematize knowledge about modern measures and methods of exposure to trophic ulcers. The authors also discuss current understanding of pathophysiology, symptoms and diagnosis of venous trophic ulcers.

Alfa2-adrenoblockers attenuate the elevated plasma cholesterol, anxiety levels and restore impaired spatial memory of rats under the chronic noise exposure.

Noise is considered one of the environmental hazards that negatively affect health. It can cause damage to the auditory, neurological, hormonal and cardiovascular systems, in addition to impairing psychological and cognitive functions. Considering the significance of vascular disturbances and oxidative stress in the development of the aforementioned negative effects, the purpose of our investigation was to study the level of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-Cl), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-Cl), and total cholesterol (TCl) in plasma, in addition to the behavioral characteristics of white rats, and the effects of the α2-adrenoblockers beditin and mesedin to reveal their antiatherogenic effect during noise exposure. The "Open field" and "Y-maze" tests were used in order to evaluate the behavioral states of the rats. Investigations were carried out on albino rats divided into 4 groups. The 1st group of rats served as a control. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th groups were exposed to 91 dBA of noise; the duration of exposure was 8 h per day for 60 days. The 3rd group was injected with beditin and the 4th group with mesedin, both intraperitoneally and repeatedly. According to our results, the chronic exposure to high-volume noise leads to the increase of plasma TCl and LDL-Cl concentrations and the decrease of HDL-Cl levels, resulting in increase of the atherogenic coefficient, which is estimated to be one of the main cardiovascular disease risk factors. The "Open field" and "Y-maze" tests revealed that chronic noise exposure caused disturbances in the behavioral activity, a noise duration-dependent delay in movement and orientation, increased anxiety and deficit in the animals' spatial memory. The administration of α2-adrenoblockers to the noise-exposed animals had a regulatoryeffects of varying intensities, depending on the medication used and the studied parameters under the conditions of chronic acoustic stress.

[Cytomorphometric study on the effect of smoking on tissues adjacent to dental implants]. / Vliianie kureniia na sostoianie tkanei, prilezhashchikh k dental'nym implantatam, po dannym tsitomorfometricheskogo issledovaniia.

The aim of the study was determination of the effectiveness of peri-implantation zone tissues control by means of cytomorphometry in cellular imprints obtained from the area of dental implantation on a model applying a comparison of the state of the tissues of the peri-implantation zone of smokers and non-smokers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cytomorphometry was used for tissue monitoring in implant-adjacent areas by the Index of Destruction (ID) and the Inflammatory-Destructive Index (IDI) in the group of smoking patients: 6 females and 9 males (41 implant) and in the group of non-smoking patients: 13 females and 14 males (97 implants). Follow-up terms in both groups from the moment of gingival former or provisional crown placement comprised 1, 5, 15, 25, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 720 days. Significant increase of ID within 25-120 days was revealed in smokers. The study of Inflammation-Distraction Indices revealed a statistically significant increase in the values in group of smokers at 5 to 60 days. The results of using of cytomorphometric method allow conclude that smoking is a pathogenic factor that exerts its influence through initiation and sustentation of an inflammatory process in the tissues adjacent to dental implants.

[The impact of octacalcium phosphate on the dynamics of bone matrix formation in experimental bone defects].

The aim of the study was to assess the interaction of of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) with bone matrix and cells and its impact on the process of bone generation. The survey was conducted on animal model: critical hipbone defect was created in 12 230-250 g Wister rats. The animals were then divided in two groups. In group 1 (6 animals) defect was left to heal under blood clot and in group 2 (6 animals) it was filled with OCP. Three animals with no defect served as a control group. It was showed significant (p<0.05) increase of the area of the newly formed bone tissue and its direct correlation with duration of observation.

[Antegrade diastolic blood flow and classic reflux in varicose dilatation of the intersaphenous vein].

INTRODUCTION: In the intersaphenous vein (ISV) there may take place the so-called "antegrade" or "paradoxical" reflux. This type of blood flow is revealed in a series of patients during muscular diastole and is a link of the pathogenesis of varicose disease, but has, as distinct from the "classical" reflux, an antegrade direction. An incompetent saphenopopliteal junction (SPJ) is a source of the antegrade diastolic blood flow (ADBF) through the ISV. Descriptions of possible variants of impaired blood flow through the ISV are fragmentary and their interpretations are controversial. Prevalence and pathogenesis of these disorders impairments have not yet been studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study: over 4 years three centres examined a total of 1,413 patients diagnosed with class C2-C6 varicose veins according the CEAP classification. All patients underwent ultrasound duplex scanning of lower limb veins. The ADBF was determined as a unidirectional antegrade blood flow with the duration of not more than 0.5 second, observed after the crus was relived of compression (in the diastole). Of the patients included into the study who had no varicose veins on the contralateral extremity with the ISV being spotted we sequentially selected 40 subjects including them into the Study Group for the analysis of blood flow and the diameter of the ISV in health. RESULTS: Impairments of blood flow in the ISV were revealed in 61 (4.8%) of 1,265 extremities included into the study: the "classical" reflux in 9 (14.8%) limbs, ADBF was revealed in 37 (60.7%) limbs, a combination of the "classical" blood flow and ADBF - in 15 (24.6%) limbs. Hence, the patients were subdivided into three groups. Studying the nature of blood flow through the ISV in the control group on 40 lower limbs revealed no blood flow disorders. The mean ISV diameter amounted to 1.68 mm (ME=1 mm). The ISV diameter was considerably higher in all studied groups as compared with the control one (p<0.0001). The diameter of the ISV in its proximal portion averagely amounted to 4.48 mm (SD 1.337 mm, SE 0.171 mm). The diameter in the distal portion amounted to 5.39 mm (SD 1.725 mm, SE 0.221 mm).

[State and perspectives of studies on osteoplastic materials]. / Sovremennoe sostoianie i osnovnye napravleniia razvitiia issledovanii, posviashchennykh razrabotke osteoplasticheskikh materialov.

Article highlights the state and the main directions of researches on osteoplastic materials used for filling of bone defects, types of these materials, effects and mechanisms of their interaction with the recipient tissues, defines objectives and prospects for further researches on the issue.

[Dynamics of osteogenesis associated with inoculation of autologous stromal cells from rat adipose tissue (experimental-morphological study)].

Experiment was evaluated on 40 male Wistar rats. On the experimental model of mandible injury, bone autologous graft from tibia was placed on the surface of mandible (host bone). In the main experimental group, consisting of 20 animals, autologous rat adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) were inoculated in space between autograph and host bones. ADSCs were not inoculated in the group of comparison. In experimental group with inoculated cells, the formation of a new fibroreticular bone structures in space between autograph and host bone was observed. These structures further underwent secondary reorganization and differentiation during the process of remodeling. As a result of the conducted study it was shown that in the experimental group by the day 180, statistically significant reduction of the area occupied by an immature fibroreticular bone took place. The reported phenomenon could be explained as a result of decline of the number of active cells in the population of inoculated ADSC, which is in consent with theory of limited cell division number due to telomeres shortening, described by Hayflick L. and Moorhead P.S. (1961).

[ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF ESCHERICHIA COLI OF THE INTESTINAL MICROBIOTA IN PATIENTS WITH FAMILIAL MEDITERRANEAN FEVER].

We used clinical bacteriological analysis and high-density DNA-microchips (PhyloChip) to study the quality and the quantity of commensal bacteria of the genus Escherichia in patients with familial mediterraneanfever (periodic disease). The intestinal microbiota of these patients contained a large number of operational taxonomic units of these bacteria. The study of antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli from the intestinal microbiota in patients with familial mediterranean fever reveald a large number of resistant and multiresistant isolates. Therapy with commercial probiotic Narine (Vitamax-E, Armenia) reduced the number of operational taxonomic units of commensal bacteria and the frequency of multiresistant isiolates. The mechanism of action of Narine probiotic on intestinal bacteria and their resistance to antibiotics is discussed

[Carbonization in endovasal laser obliteration by radial light guide with wavelength of 1470 and 970 nm].

The authors assessed the effect of carbonization and its influence on the parameters of endovasal laser obliteration (EVLO) depending on wavelength of laser radiation (970 and 1470 nm) using a light guide with radial emission. They also analysed the value of drop of radiation power of the light guide after performing EVLO and visually assessed the degree of damage of the glass tip of the radial fibre by means of ultra-close-up photography. The study comprised a total of 20 patients with varicose disease. A total of ten procedures of EVLO were performed in two modes: mode one - W-laser 1470 nm, mode two - H-laser 970 nm, using fibre with radial emission, an automatic retractor of the light guide. It was determined that the median of power loss after EVLO with W-laser amounted to 0.6 W, and that for H-laser - 3.15 W (p=0.002). Ultra-close-up photography showed pronounced damage of the glass tip of the radial light guide while using H-laser and no damages while using the W-laser. It was proved that using laser radiation with wavelength of 970 nm using the light guide with radial emission leads to pronounced carbonization on the surface of the glass tip of the light guide, its damage, a decrease in radiation power and risk of mechanical destruction of the flask. Using the laser with wavelength of 1470 nm with the use of radial light guide did not result in the development of such negative effects, which increases the service life of laser fibre and makes it possible to use it for obliteration of several segments in one patient.

[Comparison of the specificity and sensitivity of various instrument-guided keratoconus indices and classifiers]. / Vergleich der Spezifität und Sensitivität verschiedener gerätegestützter Keratokonusindizes und -klassifikatoren.

PURPOSE: Are the classifications achieved by the Belin-Ambrósio (BA) enhanced ectasia module, the keratoconus indices of the Pentacam HR and the ectasia screening index (ESI) using CASIA anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) comparable to the topographical keratoconus classification (TKC) of the Pentacam HR? Can the indices be used interchangeably to assist in the diagnosis of keratoconus? METHODS: This retrospective study examined 228 datasets (eyes) of patients with a mean age of 36.6 ± 13.6 years which were grouped into a non-keratoconus group (group I, n = 59) and a keratoconus group (group II, n = 169) according to the clinical assessment. From the data sets of these eyes the sensitivity and specificity of various ectasia and keratoconus indices (KI) were calculated with the help of receiver operating characteristics (ROC). Groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney and χ(2)-tests. RESULTS: Groups I and II had a mean KI of 1.04 and 1.26 and a mean ESI of 3.0 and 66.6, respectively. The χ(2)-test showed no significant coincidence of the distance of the thinnest point from the apex with TKC (χ(2) > 2, p > 0.35). All other BA parameters as well as the ESI showed a significant coincidence with the keratoconus diagnosis and the classification of TKC (p < 0.001). The ESI and KI along with some BA parameters (Df, Db, Dp and D) showed a good separation between groups I and II with an area under the ROC curves of > 0.93. CONCLUSION: The enhanced indices and classifiers, such as the BA module or the ESI were comparable with the purely anterior corneal surface based TKC.

Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus from an organ donor to four transplant recipients.

In 2007, a previously uninfected kidney transplant recipient tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Clinical information of the organ donor and the recipients was collected by medical record review. Sera from recipients and donor were tested for serologic and nucleic acid-based markers of HIV and HCV infection, and isolates were compared for genetic relatedness. Routine donor serologic screening for HIV and HCV infection was negative; the donor's only known risk factor for HIV was having sex with another man. Four organs (two kidneys, liver and heart) were transplanted to four recipients. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) of donor sera and posttransplant sera from all recipients were positive for HIV and HCV. HIV nucleotide sequences were indistinguishable between the donor and four recipients, and HCV subgenomic sequences clustered closely together. Two patients subsequently died and the transplanted organs failed in the other two patients. This is the first recognized cotransmission of HIV and HCV from an organ donor to transplant recipients. Routine posttransplant HIV and HCV serological testing and NAT of recipients of organs from donors with suspected risk factors should be considered as routine practice.

Pore-network modeling of biofilm evolution in porous media.

The influence of bacterial biomass on hydraulic properties of porous media (bioclogging) has been explored as a viable means for optimizing subsurface bioremediation and microbial enhanced oil recovery. In this study, we present a pore network simulator for modeling biofilm evolution in porous media including hydrodynamics and nutrient transport based on coupling of advection transport with Fickian diffusion and a reaction term to account for nutrient consumption. Biofilm has non-zero permeability permitting liquid flow and transport through the biofilm itself. To handle simultaneous mass transfer in both liquid and biofilm in a pore element, a dual-diffusion mass transfer model is introduced. The influence of nutrient limitation on predicted results is explored. Nutrient concentration in the network is affected by diffusion coefficient for nutrient transfer across biofilm (compared to water/water diffusion coefficient) under advection dominated transport, represented by mass transport Péclet number >1. The model correctly predicts a dependence of rate of biomass accumulation on inlet concentration. Poor network connectivity shows a significantly large reduction of permeability, for a small biomass pore volume.

Spatial chemical distance based on atomic property fields.

Similarity of compound chemical structures often leads to close pharmacological profiles, including binding to the same protein targets. The opposite, however, is not always true, as distinct chemical scaffolds can exhibit similar pharmacology as well. Therefore, relying on chemical similarity to known binders in search for novel chemicals targeting the same protein artificially narrows down the results and makes lead hopping impossible. In this study we attempt to design a compound similarity/distance measure that better captures structural aspects of their pharmacology and molecular interactions. The measure is based on our recently published method for compound spatial alignment with atomic property fields as a generalized 3D pharmacophoric potential. We optimized contributions of different atomic properties for better discrimination of compound pairs with the same pharmacology from those with different pharmacology using Partial Least Squares regression. Our proposed similarity measure was then tested for its ability to discriminate pharmacologically similar pairs from decoys on a large diverse dataset of 115 protein-ligand complexes. Compared to 2D Tanimoto and Shape Tanimoto approaches, our new approach led to improvement in the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values in 66 and 58% of domains respectively. The improvement was particularly high for the previously problematic cases (weak performance of the 2D Tanimoto and Shape Tanimoto measures) with original AUC values below 0.8. In fact for these cases we obtained improvement in 86% of domains compare to 2D Tanimoto measure and 85% compare to Shape Tanimoto measure. The proposed spatial chemical distance measure can be used in virtual ligand screening.

Clinical study of the efficiency of combined cell transplant on the basis of multipotent mesenchymal stromal adipose tissue cells in patients with pronounced deficit of the maxillary and mandibulary bone tissue.

The use of synthetic osteoplastic materials not always provides the required amount of the bone tissue. Transplantation of tissue-engineering constructs containing osteogenic precursor cells can be an alternative high-technology implantation method. Here we present the results of a pilot clinical study demonstrating safety of this method, accelerated healing of the operation wound, formation of young bone tissue after transplantation, and the possibility of mounting implants after 3 months in case of sufficient amount of the bone for primary fixation.

Stacking heterogeneity: a model for the sequence dependent melting cooperativity of duplex DNA.

A microscopic Potts-like one-dimensional model with many particle interactions [referred as the generalized model of polypeptide chains (GMPCs)] is developed to investigate cooperativity of DNA sequence dependent melting. For modeling sequence, regular homogeneous sequences were arranged in heterogeneous blocks of various lengths. Within the framework of the GMPC the authors show that the inclusion of stacking interaction heterogeneity relative to homogeneous hydrogen bond interactions leads to an unexpected and quite remarkable increase in melting cooperativity for small blocks. In some cases this tendency persists for long blocks having sharp sequence heterogeneity.

The helix-coil transition in heterogeneous double stranded DNA: microcanonical method.

A microscopic Potts-like one-dimensional model with many-particle interactions is developed to construct a statistical mechanical description of the melting of heterogeneous sequence duplex DNA. For this model, referred as the generalized model of polypeptide chains (GMPC), a closed-form expression for the free energy is derived. The characteristic equation of the model enables estimates on the melting temperature and transition interval, consistent with results obtained from more classical approaches. From the characteristic equation of the model, the temperature-dependent statistical weight parameter for helical states is evaluated. This parameter is shown to change throughout the transition from a harmonic form in early regions of the transition to an arithmetic form in later stages. The GMPC is extended to consider the influence of sequence heterogeneity in the melting of duplex DNA.

Improved procedure for fluorescence in situ hybridization on tissue microarrays.

BACKGROUND: The recently developed tissue microarray (TMA) technology allows the arrangement of up to a thousand tissue specimens on a single microscope slide. This technology enables researchers to perform gene copy number studies on very large series of archival formalin-fixed tissues using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). However, the hybridization properties of individual archival specimens can vary considerably. Therefore a highly optimized protocol is needed to fulfill the task of producing evaluable hybridization signals simultaneously in hundreds of specimens in a TMA. METHODS: The performance of two different FISH protocols, the standard protocol for paraffin embedded tissues and our new optimized protocol, was tested on TMAs using probes for the HER-2 and ZNF217 genes as well as the chromosome 17 centromere. RESULTS: The new protocol resulted in greatly increased signal intensity and an almost 30% increase in the number of tissue samples with evaluable hybridization signals. CONCLUSIONS: Our improved protocol for FISH on TMAs provides standardized hybridization conditions leading to high-quality hybridization signals in the majority of specimens. The increases in the signal intensity and the number of evaluable samples are extremely important for the successful analyses of TMAs by FISH and will allow the utilization of the TMA technology in its full potential.

Taxonomic study of aerobic thermophilic bacilli: descriptions of Geobacillus subterraneus gen. nov., sp. nov. and Geobacillus uzenensis sp. nov. from petroleum reservoirs and transfer of Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus thermocatenulatus, Bacillus thermoleovorans, Bacillus kaustophilus, Bacillus thermodenitrificans to Geobacillus as the new combinations G. stearothermophilus, G. th.

Five hydrocarbon-oxidizing strains were isolated from formation waters of oilfields in Russia, Kazakhstan and China. These strains were moderately thermophilic, neutrophilic, motile, spore-forming rods, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic. The G+C content of their DNA ranged from 49.7 to 52.3 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7; cellular fatty acid profiles consisted of significant amounts of iso-15:0, iso-16:0 and iso-17:0 fatty acids (61.7-86.8% of the total). Based on data from 16S rDNA analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization, the subsurface isolates could be divided into two groups, one of which consisted of strains UT and X and the other of which consisted of strains K, Sam and 34T. The new strains exhibited a close phylogenetic relationship to thermophilic bacilli of 'Group 5' of Ash et al. [Ash, C., Farrow, J. A. E., Wallbanks, S. & Collins, M. D. (1991). Lett Appl Microbiol 13, 202-206] and a set of corresponding signature positions of 16S rRNA. Comparative analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences and fatty acid compositions of the novel isolates and established species of thermophilic bacilli indicated that the subsurface strains represent two new species within a new genus, for which the names Geobacillus subterraneus gen. nov., sp. nov., and Geobacillus uzenensis sp. nov. are proposed. It is also proposed that Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus thermoleovorans, Bacillus thermocatenulatus, Bacillus kaustophilus, Bacillus thermoglucosidasius and Bacillus thermodenitrificans be transferred to this new genus, with Geobacillus stearothermophilus (formerly Bacillus stearothermophilus) as the type species.