Period-doubling bifurcation in surface radio-frequency trap: Transition to chaos through Feigenbaum scenario.

We have numerically investigated the dynamics of charged microparticles in a "five-wire" surface radio-frequency trap. The period-doubling bifurcation conditions have been shown to depend on the particle, the trap, and the alternating voltage parameters. For a comprehensive study of the dynamics chaotization through a cascade of period doubling, we have used Fourier analysis of a particle trajectory as well as the calculations of a non-trivial Lyapunov exponent map. We have demonstrated that the period-doubling bifurcation is consistent with a Feigenbaum scenario. A new approach to particle property determination can, thus, be based on observing a period-doubling bifurcation.

[First time revealed small formations of lungs (under 2 cm in diameter). Dynamic follow-up or surgery?] / Vpervye vyyavlennye ochagovye obrazovaniya legkikh malogo razmera (do 2 sm v diametre). Dinamicheskoe nablyudenie ili operatsiya?

AIM: To develop the treatment algorithm in patients with first time revealed lung lesions smaller than 2 cm. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 110 patients with pathological lung lesions with small dimensions who have been treated in the Burdenko Clinic of Faculty Surgery for the period 1997-2013. All patients underwent surgical removal of lung tissue using different surgical approaches: 44 cases of videothoracoscopic resections, 43 video-assisted minithoracotomies, 23 minithoracotomies. RESULTS: There were 25 patients with lung cancer, 38 cases of benign tumours (hamartoma and tuberculoma) and 10 patients with disseminated tuberculosis thar required special treatment. CONCLUSION: Small pulmonary formations (from 0.5 to 2 cm) can be removed without morphological verification prior to surgery. Optimal surgical approach should be selected depending on the amount and size of formations. Management of solitary lung formation smaller than 0.5 cm that was newly diagnosed by computed tomography should include dynamic follow-up and performance of computed tomography in 3-6-12 months.

[EFFECTIVENESS OF PREVENTIVE VACCINE PROPHYLAXIS OF CHICKEN POX IN MILITARY COLLECTIVES].

AIM: Study the effectiveness of preventive vaccine prophylaxis of chicken pox in military collectives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the focus of chicken pox, 200 servicemen of the new addition by conscription were immunized once against chicken pox; 97 servicemen by conscription of the new addition (comparison group) were not vaccinated. Epidemiologic and immunologic effectiveness of conduction of preventive vaccine prophylaxis in chicken pox focus were studied. RESULTS: In the group of 200 soldiers, that were present in the focus of infection and were immunized once against chicken pox, only 2 cases of this disease were registered (10 per thousand). In the comparison group, that consisted of 97 unvaccinated servicemen, chicken pox disease was registered in 7 individuals (72 per thousand). Epidemiologic effectiveness of preventive vaccine prophylaxis of chicken pox amounted to 86%. Immunologic effectiveness of vaccination 2-3 weeks after the immunization was 42%, and 2 months after--44%. Local reactions in the form of hyperemia (up to 1.5 cm) and edema were noted in 10% of the vaccinated at the location of preparation administration; in 1.7%--general reaction in the form of temperature increase to 37.8°C was observed. Post-vaccinal complications in the immunized group were not detected. CONCLUSION: Preventive vaccination of servicemen allows to minimize the spread of chicken pox, however can not serve as means of complete elimination of the infection from military collectives.

The rolC gene increases caffeoylquinic acid production in transformed artichoke cells.

Caffeoylquinic acids are found in artichokes, and they are currently considered important therapeutic or preventive agents for treating Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. We transformed artichoke [the cultivated cardoon or Cynara cardunculus var. altilis DC (Asteraceae)] with the rolC gene, which is a known inducer of secondary metabolism. High-performance liquid chromatography with UV and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-UV-HRMS) revealed that the predominant metabolites synthesized in the transgenic calli were 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and chlorogenic acid. The rolC-transformed calli contained 1.5% caffeoylquinic acids by dry weight. The overall production of these metabolites was three times higher than that of the corresponding control calli. The enhancing effect of rolC remained stable over long-term cultivation.

[Epidemiological peculiarities of acute respiratory diseases and its prophylaxis in Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs].

Acute respiratory diseases is the current problem of the medical service and command of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In recent years on the background of increase of contract servicemen the total rate of these infections decreased. However, rate of acute respiratory diseases in conscripts remains high and has a tendency to increase. Due to restricted possibilities of immunization in case of acute respiratory diseases it is necessary to improve the non-specific prophylaxis. The guaranty of sanitary-and-epidemiological safety may be active participation of military-and-professional society in realization of lifesaving measures and safety of military service.

[Some epidemiological aspects of respiratory diseases in in-country forces of the ministry of internal affairs of the Russian Federation in 1998-2011].

The authors analyzed the rate of respiratory diseases among the contingent of the in-country forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the last 14 years. It was noted that the rate of respiratory diseases in 2009-2011 is higher than in 1998-2007. It is concerned with cold aggression and factors of intermigling of contingent, and also with mistakes of prevention actions. Improvement of life quality during all types of military service, improvement of prevention measures is necessary for the complex prevention of respiratory diseases.

Nanostructure of vortex during explosion welding.

The microstructure of a bimetallic joint made by explosion welding of orthorhombic titanium aluminide (Ti-30Al-16Nb-1Zr-1Mo) with commercially pure titanium is studied. It is found that the welded joint has a multilayered structure including a severely deformed zone observed in both materials, a recrystallized zone of titanium, and a transition zone near the interface. Typical elements of the transition zone-a wavy interface, macrorotations of the lattice, vortices and tracks of fragments of the initial materials-are determined. It is shown that the observed vortices are formed most probably due to local melting of the material near the contact surface. Evidence for this assumption is deduced from the presence of dipoles, which consist of two vortices of different helicity and an ultrafine duplex structure of the vortex. Also, high mixing of the material near the vortex is only possible by the turbulent transport whose coefficient is several orders of magnitude larger than the coefficient of atomic diffusion in liquids. The role played by fragmentation in both the formation of lattice macrorotations and the passage of coarse particles of one material through the bulk of the other is determined.

[Community-acquired pneumonia among the conscripts of Interior Forces in Russia: characteristics of the epidemic process].

The dynamics of the incidence and characteristics of community-acquired pneumonia among the servicemen at the call of Interior Forces of Russia during the period 2000-2010 is analyzed. High frequency of pneumonia among the conscripts is provided by a number of factors: immunodepression during the period of adaptation to military service, the presence of a substantial portion of chronic respiratory disease, chill, overcrowded accommodation in the barracks and the "mixing factor". In recent years the level of this disease has had a positive effect of specific prophylaxis of pneumococcal infections and the transition period of one year of compulsory military service.

[Epidemiological characteristics of acute tonsillitis in military draft personnel from troops of the Ministry of Interior of Russia].

Studied the incidence of angina conscripts in the Russian Interior Ministry troops in the period from 2000 to 2009, given its epidemiological characteristics, calculated rates of changes for the troops in general and regional commands. The incidence of angina tended to moderate growth with an average rate of 4.5% per year. The greatest increase in the frequency of sore throats was registered in 2009 during the reform period of Interior troops, when their share in the overall incidence of conscripts reached 5.9%. The structure of the monthly incidence of maximum values were recorded twice a year--in January and July (the first few months of winter and summer periods of study).

[Nonspecific prophylaxis of tonsillitis in military drafted personnel of internal troops of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia].

The morbidity of tonsillitis in military drafting personnel of internal troops of Ministry of the Interior of Russia was high and had the up trend during 2000-2007. In 2008-2009 took place new increase of these diseases. The most unfortunate was the Second training center. Overcrowded accommodation of cadets in kasernes and complete rotation 2 times per year promoted this increase. The conditions of accommodation of cadets ware improved in 2010, preventive prophylaxis of tonsillitis was provided with the help of Bitsillin-5. As a result, the amount of ill in the Second training center during the summer 2010 was 5, 6 times lower than in the same period of 2009. It shows that the best antiepidemic effect can be achieved with combination of measures against the carry-over of causative agent and medicated prophylaxis.

[Epidemiological and environmental specifications of acute tonsillitis (angines) in contract servicemen of internal troops of the Russian Interior Ministry].

The features of disease tonsillitis (angines) in contract servicemen of internal troops of the Russian Interior Ministry in the period from 2000 to 2009 were studied. The authors calculated trends for long-term dynamics of its troops as whole and regional commands. The incidence of quinsy in the period under review tended to moderate reduction in the rate of 3.2% per year. The most significant increase in incidence is observed in a test in 2001 when there was formation of a large compound located in the field. In 2009, the share of sore throats in the structure of general morbidity of military personnel on a contract by 4.7%, the highest rate recorded in their autumn-winter period, due to the influence of "cold" factor.

[Surgical access for small-sized lung lesions].

Experience of diagnostics and surgical treatment of of 100 patients with small-sized lung lesions was analyzed. Thus, authors pose, that patients with lung focal lesion less than 10mm in diameter, should have a lung resection, performed from minithoracotomy. Videthotacoscopic lung biopsy is appropriate by multiple focal lesions. Patients with solitary peripheral lung lesion more than 1sm in diameter, should get a lung resection, performed from minithoracotomy with videoassistance. Patients with solitary lesion less than 5 mm in diameter requier radiological dynamic follow-up (CT-scan each 6 months).

Functional synergy between Rab5 effector Rabaptin-5 and exchange factor Rabex-5 when physically associated in a complex.

Rab GTPases are central elements of the vesicular transport machinery. An emerging view is that downstream effectors of these GTPases are multiprotein complexes that include nucleotide exchange factors to ensure coupling between GTPase activation and effector function. We have previously shown that Rab5, which regulates various steps of transport along the early endocytic pathway, is activated by a complex consisting of Rabex-5, a Rab5 nucleotide exchange factor, and the effector Rabaptin-5. We postulated that the physical association of these two proteins is necessary for their activity in Rab5-dependent endocytic membrane transport. To evaluate the functional implications of such complex formation, we have reconstituted it with the use of recombinant proteins and characterized its properties. First, we show that Rabaptin-5 increases the exchange activity of Rabex-5 on Rab5. Second, Rab5-dependent recruitment of Rabaptin-5 to early endosomes is completely dependent on its physical association with Rabex-5. Third, complex formation between Rabaptin-5 and Rabex-5 is essential for early endosome homotypic fusion. These results reveal a functional synergy between Rabaptin-5 and Rabex-5 in the complex and have implications for the function of analogous complexes for Rab and Rho GTPases.

ATP-dependent membrane assembly of F-actin facilitates membrane fusion.

We recently established an in vitro assay that monitors the fusion between latex-bead phagosomes and endocytic organelles in the presence of J774 macrophage cytosol (). Here, we show that different reagents affecting the actin cytoskeleton can either inhibit or stimulate this fusion process. Because the membranes of purified phagosomes can assemble F-actin de novo from pure actin with ATP (), we focused here on the ability of membranes to nucleate actin in the presence of J774 cytosolic extracts. For this, we used F-actin sedimentation, pyrene actin assays, and torsional rheometry, a biophysical approach that could provide kinetic information on actin polymerization and gel formation. We make two major conclusions. First, under our standard in vitro conditions (4 mg/ml cytosol and 1 mM ATP), the presence of membranes actively catalyzed the assembly of cytosolic F-actin, which assembled into highly viscoelastic gels. A model is discussed that links these results to how the actin may facilitate fusion. Second, cytosolic actin paradoxically polymerized more under ATP depletion than under high-ATP conditions, even in the absence of membranes; we discuss these data in the context of the well described, large increases in F-actin seen in many cells during ischemia.

[Intraoperative ultrasound investigation and laser spectroscopy for diagnosis of cancer in patients with lung tumors].

The experience in more than 2000 surgeries on the lungs is analyzed. Recently intraoperative ultrasonic and laser autofluorescent spectroscopic revision of tumors of the lungs and mediastinal organs is successfully used. Intrasurgical ultrasonic examination of the lungs permits to detect the structure and diffusion of primary lung tumor (invasion of vessels) that influences policy of treatment. Optical spectroscopy permits one to carry out intraoperative rapid diagnosis of benign and malignant lung tumors.

[Correction of endotoxicosis in alcoholic pancreatitis in elderly and senile patients using discrete plasmapheresis].

The majority of critical conditions in man occur in diseases accompanied with development of endogenic intoxication syndrome. The search for universal criterion and design of highly effective programs for correction of this condition are of great importance for internal medicine and surgical practice. Discrete plasmapheresis for endotoxicosis in elderly and gerontological patients has its specific features which should be taken into consideration because of low adaptation abilities of such group of patients.

A Gs protein couples P2-purinergic stimulation to cardiac Ca channels without cyclic AMP production.

P2-purinergic stimulation of the L-type Ca current induced by the external application of 100 microM ATP gamma S was investigated in rat ventricular cardiomyocytes using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. The purinergic-induced increase in ICa was slow and monophasic and reached a steady state within 3 min. In contrast to beta-adrenergic stimulation, after a brief agonist application the current did not continue to increase on washout; recovery started immediately after agonist removal. The P2-purinergic increase in ICa was significantly less in the presence of GDP beta S, but it occurred much faster and was twice as large when a low dose of GTP gamma S (100 microM) was added to a GTP-containing internal medium. This suggests that the ICa increase was mediated by a G protein. Based on electrophoretic mobility and susceptibility to cholera toxin and anti-G alpha s serum, it is proposed that the G protein involved during purinergic-induced ICa stimulation is an isoform of Gs not coupled to the adenylyl cyclase, since the cyclic AMP level was unaffected. High intracellular GTP gamma S (1 mM) maximally activated ICa so that neither beta-adrenergic nor P2-purinergic agonists further increased ICa. In the absence of GTP and an ATP-regenerating system, GTP gamma S was much more potent in increasing basal ICa and supporting purinergic stimulation. This indicates that a nucleoside diphosphate kinase activity might replenish endogenous GTP; GTP exchange with GTP gamma S on the G protein was promoted by the P2-purinergic stimulation and led to a reversible and reproducible increase in ICa. In the presence of 3 mM internal ATP gamma S, the P2-purinergic stimulation was also reversible and reproducible. Moreover, under these conditions (ATP gamma S or GTP gamma S) the increase in ICa was not maintained during prolonged agonist application. Such an inhibition occurred slowly and irreversibly; it might be related to the threefold increase in cyclic GMP. In conclusion, we propose that extracellular ATP induces both a stimulatory and an inhibitory effect on ICa, probably mediated by subtypes of P2-purinergic receptors. An isoform of the Gs protein is likely to mediate the stimulation.

Vps9, Rabex-5 and DSS4: proteins with weak but distinct nucleotide-exchange activities for Rab proteins.

The activities of three Rab-specific factors with GDP/GTP exchange activity, Vps9p, Rabex-5 and DSS4, with their cognate GTPases, Ypt51p, Rab5 and Ypt1p, have been analysed quantitatively. In contrast to other exchange factors examined and to DSS4, Vps9p, and by analogy probably Rabex-5, have considerably lower affinity than GDP to the respective GTPases. In keeping with this, they are relatively weak exchangers, with a maximal rate constant for GDP release from the ternary complex between exchange factor, GTPase and GDP of ca 0.01 s(-1), which is several orders of magnitude lower than for other exchange factors examined. If interaction with these proteins is a mandatory aspect of the Rab cycle, this suggests that the overall rate of cycling might be controlled at this point of the cycle. Surprisingly, DSS4, which has the thermodynamic potential to displace GDP effectively from Ypt1p, also does this very slowly, again with a maximal rate constant of ca 0.01 s(-1). An additional, and based on present knowledge, unique, feature of the Ypt1p.DSS4 complex, is that the association of GTP (or GDP) is more than 10(3)-fold slower than to Ypt1p, thus leading to a long life-time of the binary complex between the two proteins, even at the high nucleotide concentrations that prevail in the cell. This leads to the conclusion that the protein-protein complex is likely to have an important biological significance in addition to its probable role in GTP/GDP exchange.

Mice with a homozygous gene trap vector insertion in mgcRacGAP die during pre-implantation development.

In a phenotypic screen in mice using a gene trap approach in embryonic stem cells, we have identified a recessive loss-of-function mutation in the mgcRacGAP gene. Maternal protein is present in the oocyte, and mgcRacGAP gene transcription starts at the four-cell stage and persists throughout mouse pre-implantation development. Total mgcRacGAP deficiency results in pre-implantation lethality. Such E3.5 embryos display a dramatic reduction in cell number, but undergo compaction and form a blastocoel. At E3.0-3.5, binucleated blastomeres in which the nuclei are partially interconnected are frequently observed, suggesting that mgcRacGAP is required for normal mitosis and cytokinesis in the pre-implantation embryo. All homozygous mutant blastocysts fail to grow out on fibronectin-coated substrates, but a fraction of them can still induce decidual swelling in vivo. The mgcRacGAP mRNA expression pattern in post-implantation embryos and adult mouse brain suggests a role in neuronal cells. Our results indicate that mgcRacGAP is essential for the earliest stages of mouse embryogenesis, and add evidence that CYK-4-like proteins also play a role in microtubule-dependent steps in the cytokinesis of vertebrate cells. In addition, the severe phenotype of null embryos indicates that mgcRacGAP is functionally non-redundant and cannot be substituted by other GAPs during early cleavage of the mammalian embryo.