[(HUMAN DIROFILARIASIS: CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF THE PATHOGEN)].

To seek medical advice is due to the time when a person has become infected during the infection transmission season (July-August) and the duration of development of the pathogen Dirofilaria (N.) repens in his/her body Clinical manifes- tations occurred in 61% of the patients 6-10 months after infection, as confirmed by the maximum body sizes (125-160 mm) of removed females which have reached puberty. PCR-based diagnosis in conjunction with microscopic studies improves the efficiency of identifying the patients and the species of the pathogens D.repens and D.immitis. The use of these methods for the first time in 2016 could confirm D.immitis infestation in a 14-month-old infant living in the Solnechnogorsk District, Moscow Region.

[MALARIA IMPORTATION BY RUSSIA'S CITIZENS AND FOREIGNERS, INTO THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION].

A total of 436 malaria cases, including 12 from the CIS countries and 424 from far foreign countries (of Africa and Central and South-East Asia), were imported into the Russian Federation in 2010-2014. Most (96.6%) cases were notified in the urban areas of 52 administrative subjects of Russia. The largest number of the imported cases were seasonal workers (39.2%), tourists (31.3%), students and foreign postgraduate students (19.5%), and ship or aircraft crews (10%). During a short malaria transmission season (June to August), there were 150 cases of different types, out of them there were only 63 cases of tertian malaria (its pathogen is Plasmodium vivax, to which malaria mosquitoes of Russia's fauna are susceptible). The relatively small number of infection sources in the short transmission (June to August) season of malaria, its importation into low-susceptibility large towns, and a small proportion of imported vivax malaria cases substantially reduce the risk of malaria in the highrisk areas of the country.

[Experimental evaluation of actoprotective activity of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds derivatives in extreme conditions].

In experiments on nonlinear male mice the ability of new derivatives of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds to increase the physical working capacity in conditions of hyperthermia, hypothermia and acute normobaric hypoxia and hypercapnia has been investigated. It is established, that pyridine derivative IBHF-11 has more expressed positive action in the said conditions. It provided increase of the working capacity of animals at all kinds of extreme influence, and the value of positive action was comparable, and in conditions of acute normobaric hypoxia and hypercapnia exceeded those at the reference products bemitil and bromantan.

A role for maternal physiological state in preserving auditory cortical plasticity for salient infant calls.

A growing interest in sensory system plasticity in the natural context of motherhood has created the need to investigate how intrinsic physiological state (e.g., hormonal, motivational, etc.) interacts with sensory experience to drive adaptive cortical plasticity for behaviorally relevant stimuli. Using a maternal mouse model of auditory cortical inhibitory plasticity for ultrasonic pup calls, we examined the role of pup care versus maternal physiological state in the long-term retention of this plasticity. Very recent experience caring for pups by Early Cocarers, which are virgins, produced stronger call-evoked lateral-band inhibition in auditory cortex. However, this plasticity was absent when measured post-weaning in Cocarers, even though it was present at the same time point in Mothers, whose pup experience occurred under a maternal physiological state. A two-alternative choice phonotaxis task revealed that the same animal groups (Early Cocarers and Mothers) demonstrating stronger lateral-band inhibition also preferred pup calls over a neutral sound, a correlation consistent with the hypothesis that this inhibitory mechanism may play a mnemonic role and is engaged to process sounds that are particularly salient. Our electrophysiological data hint at a possible mechanism through which the maternal physiological state may act to preserve the cortical plasticity: selectively suppressing detrimental spontaneous activity in neurons that are responsive to calls, an effect observed only in Mothers. Taken together, the maternal physiological state during the care of pups may help maintain the memory trace of behaviorally salient infant cues within core auditory cortex, potentially ensuring a more rapid induction of future maternal behavior.

[Studies on actoprotective and antihypoxic properties of new succinate-containing benzothiazole derivatives].

Experiments with mice demonstrated that in contrast to the preparations for comparison (mexidol and reference antihypoxant succinate amtisol at a dose of 1-100 mg/kg) new succinate-containing derivatives of benzothiazole BTI-2 (0.5-5 mg/kg), BTI-3 (0.1, 0.5 and 10 mg/kg), 877-4 (0.5 mg/kg) and BTI-5 (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) improved physical performance of animals by 18-56 and 21-39% in the treadmill test and swimming test (positive effect of BTI-4 and -5 only), respectively. In all three models of acute hypoxia (normobaric hypoxic hypoxia with hyperkapnia, histotoxic and hemic) an obvious antihypoxic activity was displayed by BTI-1 and -2 only. In comparison with mexidol and succinate amtizol, positive and stronger effect of these compounds was achieved at significantly lower doses. Therefore, the succinate-containing benzothiazole derivatives have considerable promise as ingredients of performance enhancing antihypoxic and therapeutic compositions.

[Signs of chronic cardiac insufficiency in merchant marine sailors on long voyages].

Incidence of symptoms and clinical signs of chronic cardiac insufficiency (CCI) was studied in sailors in the Northern basin. Their variations were tracked and risk factors of that are most likely to provoke cardiovascuar diseases (CVDs) during 6-mos. voyages were elicted. Examined were 225 sailors of 10 sister large-capacity vessels belonging to Russian shipowners. Clinical condition and the cardiovascular function of the sailors were assessed on months 1, 3 and 6 using physical methods and ECG, provocative tests and clinical condition scoring scale. Physical activity was evaluated. Incidence of CCI symptoms and clinical signs in sailors was significantly in excess of the all-Russian value. Clinical condition of sailors with CCI symptoms and clinical signs was noted to grow worse by the end of voyage. Factors contributing to CCI development and aggravation during long voyages were identified.

[Dirofilariasis in the Moscow Region, a low disease transmission risk area].

The spread of canine and human dirofilariasis was first studied in the Moscow Region, a low disease transmission risk area. D.repens infestation was found to have a tendency to increase in Moscow residents with the imported cases being predominant. In 33 (84.6%) districts of the Moscow Region, dogs were registered to have D. immitis and D. repens infestation, with the former being preponderant in 31 districts. An original map of dirofilariasis distribution was compiled with the areas being singled out at a distance of Moscow: 15-20 km (6 districts) (the first ring); as long as 70 km (11 districts) (the second ring), and over 70 km (16 districts) where infestation rates greatly varied in both the number of infected animals and human beings and the species of causative agents.

Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA expression reveals a subcellular trace of prior sound exposure in adult primary auditory cortex.

Acquiring the behavioral significance of sound has repeatedly been shown to correlate with long term changes in response properties of neurons in the adult primary auditory cortex. However, the molecular and cellular basis for such changes is still poorly understood. To address this, we have begun examining the auditory cortical expression of an activity-dependent effector immediate early gene (IEG) with documented roles in synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation in the hippocampus: Arc/Arg3.1. For initial characterization, we applied a repeated 10 min (24 h separation) sound exposure paradigm to determine the strength and consistency of sound-evoked Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA expression in the absence of explicit behavioral contingencies for the sound. We used 3D surface reconstruction methods in conjunction with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess the layer-specific subcellular compartmental expression of Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA. We unexpectedly found that both the intranuclear and cytoplasmic patterns of expression depended on the prior history of sound stimulation. Specifically, the percentage of neurons with expression only in the cytoplasm increased for repeated versus singular sound exposure, while intranuclear expression decreased. In contrast, the total cellular expression did not differ, consistent with prior IEG studies of primary auditory cortex. Our results were specific for cortical layers 3-6, as there was virtually no sound driven Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA in layers 1-2 immediately after stimulation. Our results are consistent with the kinetics and/or detectability of cortical subcellular Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA expression being altered by the initial exposure to the sound, suggesting exposure-induced modifications in the cytoplasmic Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA pool.

[Monitoring delagil (chloroquine) efficacy against imported Plasmodium vivax strains].

The efficiency of P. vivax malaria treatment with delagil (chloroquine) was evaluated in 122 patients, including 82 cases in Moscow and the Moscow region. The origin of the cases was malaria endemic areas in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Region, South America, and Transcaucasia. Forty other cases were imported malaria cases (secondary to imported ones), detected in Moscow and the Moscow region. Standard treatment with delagil (2.5 g) resulted in clinical improvement during 3 days in the majority of cases. Initial signs of degradation of asexual stages of P. vivax--kernels of nucleus, refinement of cytoplasm and its vacuolization, aggregation of pigment in isolated instances, its pushing out from cytoplasm--were observed after 1-2 hours after administration of delagil. Thereafter, parasite degradation was increasing, and it disappeared within 48 hours. Disappearance of fever slowed down in a few cases. However, degradation of parasites occurred during the same period among the rest of cases. It can not be excluded that fever was determined by the pyrogenic effect of remnants of degraded parasites and by the products of destroyed infected erythrocytes. It is probable that the findings of gametocytes, not completely degraded after disappearance of asexual forms in conjunction with prolonged fever, could result in a wrong conclusion of drug resistance. Negative results of microscopy and nested PCR on the last day of treatment, as well as in the following 10 days and absence of complains during 45 days, suggest the absence of resistance to delagil in P. vivax strains imported from different regions of the world. It is also probable that the literature on P. vivax resistance to chloroquine is limited to sporadic cases.

[Results of epidemiological surveillance of malaria vectors in the Moscow open water reservoirs].

In the past 2 years, the malaria epidemiological situation in Moscow has drastically deteriorated, sporadic cases of local transmission of tertian malaria (Plasmodium vivax) have been notified, which permits one to pose a problem, namely to eliminate malaria in the megapolis by 2010. Monitoring and assessment of the entomological situation, surveillance of the malaria vectors Anopheles mosquitoes in particular, acquire vital importance. The entomological surveillance has shown its efficiency on the territory of the megapolis and a need for continuous monitoring and assessment in future in order to consolidate the achieved success and to attain malaria elimination in Moscow by 2010. The major benefit of hydraulic measures is that they are directed on fundamental radical environmental enhancement. The impact of timely and properly implanted hydraulic measures is long-term, therefore this prophylactic line has been considered to be of priority.

[Results of epidemiological supervision of malaria vectors in the open water reservoirs of Moscow].

In the past 2 years, the malaria epidemiological situation has drastically improved in Moscow: only sporadic cases of local transmission of tertian (Plasmodium vivax) malaria have been notified, which sets a task to eradicate malaria in the megalopolis in 2010. In this connection, the surveillance of the malaria vectors Anopheles mosquitoes is assuming prime importance. The results of entomological monitoring have shown its efficiency on the territory of the megalopolis. Main efforts have been directed to the application of safe controlling methods against the mosquitoes and to hydraulic engineering actions to reduce "area susceptibility". Entomological observations have demonstrated benefits from the correctly chosen and constantly performed hydraulic engineering measures that guarantee a long-term and positive impact on the malaria situation.

[Supervision of the sanitary-helminthological state of soil in the inhabited areas of Moscow].

In accordance with the normative and methodical documents [3-5, 7-9], a complex of organizational, sanitary, and antiepidemic actions is performed to protect soil from causative agents of parasitic diseases in Moscow. About 2000 soil samples are annually taken from the playgrounds of children's educational establishments and apartment houses and tested. The soil contamination averages 3.2%. It has been established that there are no sanitary-and-epidemiological opinions as to the parasitic safety of sand or lids on the sand-boxes on the playgrounds from which the soil or sand samples show causative agents of parasitic diseases (most commonly toxocariasis) and which are accessible to stray and domestic dogs. In 2005, DESINBAC super having bactericidal, fungicidal, sporocidal, and virocidal activities and ovicidal properties was approved for soil disinfection in the Russian Federation. The prevention of toxocariasis is a state problem. Executive bodies, housing-and-communal services, veterinary stations, and health care services with the participation of sanitary-and-epidemiological facilities and their control must take part in solving this problem.

[Prediction of the effectiveness of a health care organization system for Muscovites in case of scab].

The present paper gives data on prediction of the number of Muscovites and homeless individuals who suffered from scab in 1998-2005. As of 2005, the difference in the expected and actual number of scab patients among the Muscovites and the homeless was 4.3 and 13% less than the expected values, respectively. At the same time the authors show that over 6 years (2005-2010) the incidence of scab will be able to reduce by 43.5 and 48.7% among the Muscovites and the homeless, respectively. Due to the extensive use of the inexpensive, safe, and most effective drugs medifox and medifox-super to treat scab and disinfect its foci, the efficiency of the treatment and prevention of scab has considerably increased. The above and other measures implemented by a dermatovenereological service and the concerned organizations improved the rating of Moscow: if it occupied the tenth place in the incidence of scab in 1999, then in 2003 it ranked third among the subjects of the Russian Federation.

[Clinical and neurological evaluation of the efficiency of transspinal magnetic stimulation during surgical treatment of tuberculosis spondylitis].

The clinical and neurophysiological efficiency of high-intensity transpinal rhythmic magnetic stimulation was studied during surgical treatment in patients with tuberculosis spondylitis complicated by neurological disorders. Its highest efficiency was determined in patients with minor neurological disorders, radicular syndrome, and paresis. Magnetic stimulation was shown to affect the regression of neurological symptoms. The use of electric neuromyography allows quantitative assessment of the course of reparative processes in the pathways.

[Malaria in Moscow: evaluation of the vulnerability and susceptibility of an area].

Before eradication of malaria in the USSR, there was a steady transmission of vivax malaria in the Moscow Region. In the posteradication period, there were two insignificant cases of local transmission: in 1972 and 1982. However, since 1999, there has been a local transmission of malaria every year. The possible causes of the transmission are analyzed. This includes a change in favor of better climatic conditions for malaria transmission in 1948 to 2004. It is shown that a weather quality jump in about 1984, which appeared as the area's higher susceptibility. A great deal of anophelogenic water reservoirs open the way to a local transmission in summer months. The vulnerability of the area has increased with a larger number of migrants from the endemic areas of the former USSR. Thus, more cases of malaria import (increased vulnerability), possibilities of the carrier to multiply, better climatic conditions for transmitting malaria (increased susceptibility) have created conditions for worsening its situation in the Moscow Region.

[The level of radionuclides and aflatoxin M1 in laid-in milk].

The performed studies have provided a model that is based on the predicted trend and permits prediction of the levels of radionuclides and aflatoxin M1 in laid-in milk in its different yield periods.

[Malaria in Moscow in 2000-2004].

Malaria was eradicated on the territory of Moscow in 1960; its imported cases mainly from the countries of Asia and Africa and sporadic cases secondary to the imported ones were recorded during the following 40 years. Mass migration of the population (businessmen, seasonal workers, etc.) from the endemic CIS countries in the late 1990s, particularly to the Moscow Region, increased cases of tertian malaria, resulting from the transmission of the infection by the mosquitoes Anopheles. A total of 793 cases of malaria, including 27 parasitic carriers, were recorded from 2000 to 2004. The proportion of Muscovites was 24.1% of the total cases of malaria in 2002 and increased up to 50% in 2004. The causative agents of tertian malaria (Plasmodium vivax) were detected in 74.8% of the total number of cases. The ongoing importation of malaria from Tadjikistan and Azerbaijan, the late establishment of final diagnosis, the shortage of antimalarial drugs make the malaria situation worse in Moscow, which requires that antiepidemic measures should be intensified in the coming 3 years.

[Specific features of tuberculosis of peripheral lymph nodes with specific process in the respiratory organs]. / Osobennosti tuberukuleza perifericheskikh limfaticheskikh uzlov pri spetsificheskom protsesse v organakh dykhaniia.

102 patients with verified tuberculosis of the peripheral lymph nodes (TPLN), including 40 patients with specific process in the respiratory apparatus, were examined. The lymph nodes of the neck were found to be primarily affected in such patients (89%); by the 2nd month, conglomerates develop from such nodes, with the latter evolving into fistulas (44.4%) and into abscesses (40%). A high specificity and sensitivity of the test with the blood serum for adenosine deaminase were proven. Different types of anti-tuberculosis antibodies are isolated with various rates; therefore, it is advisable to study the answers to all serological reactions.