[Validation of the Russian version of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Physical Performance for assessment of patients with post-stroke paresis]. / Validatsiya russkoyazychnoi versii shkaly Fugl-Meiera dlya otsenki sostoyaniya patsientov s postinsul'tnym parezom.

OBJECTIVE: To perform linguistic and cultural adaptation of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Physical Performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study for assessment of psychometric properties included 53 post-stroke patients with neurological deficit presented by hemiparesis of different severity. The patients were assessed twice: at admission and after 14 days of treatment and rehabilitation procedures. The Russian version of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Physical Performance was developed with consideration of language and cultural characteristics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Results of assessment of psychometric properties of the Russian-language version show its high validity, reliability and sensitivity. The developed Russian-language version of Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Physical Performance is recommended for using by neurologists and rehabilitation specialists both in everyday clinical practice and in clinical studies of patients with post-stroke paresis. The results obtained in the study show necessity for pre-training of specialists who perform assessment of patients with post-stroke paresis using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Physical Performance.

[The Russian version of Coma Recovery Scale-revised - a standardized method for assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness]. / Russkoiazychnaia versiia peresmotrennoi shkaly vosstanovleniia posle komy - standartizirovannyi metod otsenki patsientov s khronicheskimi narusheniiami soznaniia.

The authors officially present for the first time the Russian version of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). Today CRS-R is the only validated scale in Russian for assessment of patients with chronic disorders of consciousness (DOC). The study showed high consistency for different researchers, high sensitivity in the evaluation of patients over time as well as high concurrent validity. This article contains the text of the scale and recommendations how to use CRS-R and interpret the data. Presented version of the CRS-R is recommended for use in DOC patients. Russian version of the CRS-R is a standardized, comprehensive and systematic approach to the examination and assessment of patients with chronic DOS. It ensures the standard approach to examination and assessment that warrants the accuracy and homogeneity of the obtained results.

In vitro study of the antibacterial effect of the bacteriophage T5 thermostable endolysin on Escherichia coli cells.

AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate lysis of Escherichia coli stationary cell cultures induced by the combined action of bacteriophage T5 endolysin (l-alanyl-d-glutamate peptidase) and low doses of various cationic agents permeabilizing the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria (polymyxin B, gramicidin D, poly-l-lysine, chlorhexidine and miramistin). METHODS AND RESULTS: The enzyme activity was assayed with the turbidimetric method. Antimicrobial activity was assessed through the number of colony-forming units (CFUs); the results of calculation were represented as logarithmic units. The optical microscopy examination of bacterial cells was conducted in the phase-contrast mode. The use of bacteriophage T5 endolysin in combination with polymyxin B (0·4 µg ml-1 ) or chlorhexidine (0·5 µg ml-1 ) made it possible to reduce the number of CFUs by five orders of magnitude; and in combination with poly-l-lysine (80 µg ml-1 ) by four orders, as compared to control. The endolysin was found to be a thermostable protein: it retained ~65% of its initial activity after heating for 30 min at 90°C. Examining the curves of its thermal denaturation revealed the half-transition temperature to be 56·3 ± 1·0°C. Circular dichroism spectra showed that after recooling the protein restored up to 80% of its native structure. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial synergistic effect of the bacteriophage T5 endolysin and membrane-permeabilizing compounds was demonstrated. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The study of thermal stability of the bacteriophage T5 endolysin and the quantified assessment of its antimicrobial activity have been done for the first time. The approach examined lays foundations for designing a two-component preparation which would effectively lyse cells of Gram-negative pathogens from outside.

[The efficacy of polychromatic visible and infrared radiation used for the postoperative immunological rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer].

The immunological rehabilitation of the patients with oncological problems after the completion of standard anti-tumour therapy remains a topical problem in modern medicine. The up-to-date phototherapeutic methods find the increasingly wider application for the treatment of such patients including the use of monochromatic visible (VIS) and near infrared (nIR) radiation emitted from lasers and photodiodes. The objective of the present study was to substantiate the expediency of postoperative immune rehabilitation of the patients with breast cancer (BC) by means of irradiation of the body surface with polychromatic visible (pVIS) in combination with polychromatic infrared (pIR) light similar to the natural solar radiation without its minor UV component. The study included 19 patients with stage I--II BC at the mean age of 54.0 +/- 4.28 years having the infiltrative-ductal form of the tumour who had undergone mastectomy. These patients were randomly allocated to two groups, one given the standard course of postoperative rehabilitation (control), the other (study group) additionally treated with pVIS + pIR radiation applied to the lumbar-sacral region from days 1 to 7 after surgery. A Bioptron-2 phototherapeutic device, Switzerland, was used for the purpose (480-3400 nm, 40 mW/cm2, 12 J/cm2, with the light spot diameter of 15 cm). The modern standard immunological methods were employed. It was found that mastectomy induced changes of many characteristics of cellular and humoral immunity; many of them in different patients were oppositely directed. These changes were apparent within the first 7 days postoperatively. The course of phototherapy (PT) was shown to prevent the postoperative decrease in the counts of monocytes and natural killer (NK) cells, the total amount of CD3+ -T-lymphocytes (LPC), CD4+ -T-helpers, activated T-lymphocytes (CD3+ HLA-DR+ cells) and IgA levels as well as intracellular digestion rate of neutrophil-phagocyted bacteria. Moreover PT promoted faster normalization of postoperative leukocytosis and activation of cytotoxic CD8+ -T-LPC, reduced the elevated concentration of immune complexes in blood. Among the six tested cytokines, viz. IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-alpha, and IFN-gamma, only the latter two underwent significant elevation of their blood concentrations (IL-6 within 1 day) and IFN-gamma (within 7 days after mastectomy). The course of PT resulted in the decrease of their levels to the initial values. The follow-up of the treated patients during 4 years revealed neither recurrence of the disease nor the appearance of metastases.

[Clinical and prognostic significance of the doubling time of initial prostate-specific antigen in patients with prostate cancer].

UNLABELLED: Kinetic parameters of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) play a pivotal role in diagnostic and treatment of patients with prostate cancer (PCr). Assessment of PSA doubling time (PSADT) can be used for monitoring of treatment efficacy and predicting the outcomes of disease. The aim of the present paper is to analyze the PSADT in patients with different spread of PCr. Moreover, the initial PSADTs were studied with relation to overall survival. 336 PCr patients were included into the study. PSADT was measured usng two point method. Ill patients had localized PCr (T1-2N0M0), 90--regional-local PCr (T1-2N0M0) and 136 had generalized PCr (T1-4N1-2M1). RESULTS: Median PSADT in patients with generalized PCr amounted to 2,93 months and was significantly lower as compared to groups of patients with local and regional-local spread of disease--15,2 and 13,2 months respectively. Follow-up results revealed the link between PSADT and survival rates: the lower is PSADT, the worse are survival rates.

[Survival among patients with prostate cancer after distant radiotherapy and low-intensity near-infrared phototherapy].

The paper discusses the effect of photography with near-infrared photography on survival of patients with prostate cancer (PC) after distant radio- (DRT) and hormonal therapy (January 2000 - June 2007). The control group (n=251) were treated with standard radio- and hormonal therapy alone. Besides, patients of the study group (n=308) received phototherapeutic treatment to prevent radiation-induced injuries of the urinary bladder and rectum. The groups were compared relatively to PC cell differentiation, DRT and hormonal treatment. Survival was evaluated (Caplan-Meyer); log-rank test was used to compare the results. Overall survival in the study group of patients with localized (T1-2N0 M0) and generalized (T1-4N0-1 M1) tumors did not differ from that of controls (p > or = 0.05). In patients with locally advanced tumors (T3-4N0-1 M0, T1-4N1 M0), significant differences in survival between controls and study group were recorded beginning from year 3 of the investigation: 5-year survival rates were 67% and 89%, respectively (p < or = 0.05).

[Application of low-power visible and near infrared radiation in clinical oncology].

Although low-power visible (VIS) and near infrared (nIR) radiation emitted from lasers, photodiodes, and other sources does not cause neoplastic transformation of the tissue, these phototherapeutic techniques are looked at with a great deal of caution for fear of their stimulatory effect on tumour growth. This apprehension arises in the first place from the reports on the possibility that the proliferative activity of tumour cells may increase after their in vitro exposure to light. Much less is known that these phototherapeutic modalities have been successfully used for the prevention and management of complications developing after surgery, chemo- and radiotherapy. The objective of the present review is to summarize the results of applications of low-power visible and near infrared radiation for the treatment of patients with oncological diseases during the last 20-25 years. It should be emphasized that 2-4 year-long follow-up observations have not revealed any increase in the frequency of tumour recurrence and metastasis.

[Transduction of plasmid antibiotic resistance determinants with pseudo-T-even bacteriophages]. / Transduktsiia determinant antibiotikorezistentnosti plazmid psevdo-T-chetnymi bakteriofagami.

Transduction of antibiotic resistance determinants of the plasmid pBR322 with pseudoT-even bacteriophages RB42, RB43, and RB49 was studied. It is established that antibiotic resistance determinants of plasmid pBR322 from Escherichia coli recA(+)- and recA(-)-donor strains do not differ significantly in respect to the efficiency of transduction. Amber mutants RB43-21, RB43-33, and a double amber mutant RB43am21am33 were obtained. These mutants facilitated transduction experiments in some cases. Transduction of antibiotic resistance markers of the vector plasmid pBR325 and recombinant plasmid pVT123, containing a DNA fragment with hoc segE uvsW genes of phage T4, was studied. The frequency of appearance of transductants resistant to pseudoT-even bacteriophages used in transduction was determined, and the sensitivity of resistant transductants to 32 RB bacteriophages and also to phages lambda, T2, T4, T5, T6, T7, and BF23 was estimated. The efficiency of plating pseudoT-even bacteriophages RB42 and RB43 on strain E. coli 802 himA hip carrying mutations in genes that encode subunits of the Integration Host Factor (IHF) was shown to be higher than on isogenic strain E. coli 802. The growth of pseudoT-even bacteriophages limited in vivo by modification-restriction systems of chromosomal (EcoKI, EcoBI), phage (EcoP1I), and plasmid (EcoRI, EcoR124I, and EcoR124II) localization was analyzed. It was shown that these phages were only slightly restricted by the type I modification-restriction systems EcoBI, EcoR124I, and EcoR124II. Phage RB42 was restricted by systems EcoKI, EcoP1I, and EcoRI; phage RB43, by systems EcoKI and EcoRI; and phage RB49, by the EcoRI modification-restriction system.

[Comparative analysis of the structure of incompatibility plasmids N, P and W]. / Sravnitel'nyi analiz plazmid N, P i W grupp nesovmestimosti.

Evolutionary relationships of the IncN plasmid R15 and other broad host range plasmids (IncN plasmids N3 and R46, IncP plasmids RP4 and R906, IncW plasmids Sa and R388) were studied by Southern blot hybridization technique. The IncN plasmids were shown to harbour homologous determinants for replication and conjugation. No homology was found between the rep and tra genes in R15 and in the IncW and IncP plasmids, respectively. The second rep region of the N3 plasmid is distinctive from the corresponding determinants in the IncN plasmids. Homology was demonstrated for the plasmid genes that mediate restriction and modification in R15 and N3, mercury resistance in R15 and R906, sulfanilamide resistance in R15, N3, R46, Sa, R388, and R906, streptomycin resistance in R15, R46 and Sa. The latter genes are different from the R906 SmR gene. In addition to the three known mobile elements in the plasmid R15, the fourth one (IS46) that is a part of the transposon Tn2353 was identified in this study. Besides, the third copy of this insertion sequence was found in the N3 plasmid.