Ion detector of time-of-flight mass spectrometer with registration of leading and trailing edges.

The accuracy of the ion flight time measurement in the time-of-flight mass spectrometer is critical to achieving high resolution. The pulse amplitude variation of the detector pulses leads to the registration time spread at a given pulse detection threshold. This time spread can be eliminated by determining the position of the pulse apex. To determine the position of the pulse apex, the output of the ion detector is fed simultaneously to the two channels of the time-to-digital converter. In this case, the first channel is set to register the leading edge, and the second channel is set to register the trailing edge of the pulse. Using a simple processing of the received data, the position of the pulse tip is determined. Thus, the dependence of the temporal position of the peak on the pulse amplitude is largely eliminated. Examples are given, and the efficiency of using this algorithm to increase the resolution of time-of-flight mass spectral peak registration is demonstrated.

Note: Isolated high-voltage thermo-compensated DC power supply for mass spectrometry.

The design of a highly stable isolated high voltage power supply is proposed and developed. The power supply is characterized by good temperature stability (<15 ppm/°C) and very low ripple level (<7 ppm) which were reduced by using a sinusoidal voltage in the transformer conversion. We anticipate that the power supplies of this type can find their utility in modern high-resolution mass spectrometers, particularly in time-of-flight and Orbitrap-type instruments providing a high resolution of ∼100 000 FWHM and high accuracy of m/z determination.

[Photomatrix LED therapy in patients with post-stroke arthropathy of the shoulder joint]. / Primenenie svetodiodnoi fotomatrichnoi terapii pri postinsul'tnykh artropatiyakh plechevogo sustava.

AIM: To assess the impact of quasi-monochromatic partially coherent infra-red radiation on the dynamics of recovery of the affected joint and the hemostatic system in patients with post-stroke arthropathy of the shoulder joint. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-five patients in the early, late and residual period of ischemic stroke were studied. Group I consisted of 27 patients who underwent 10 sessions of photomatrix therapy (wavelength 600 nm) on the affected joint, lasting for 10 minutes. In patients of group II (n=28), the duration of photomatrix therapy was 20 minutes. Patients of the comparison group (n=20) did not receive photomatrix therapy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results pointed to a significant reduction in the severity of pain, increase in the range of motion in the shoulder joint. All this was combined with a decrease in the severity of anxiety and depression, followed by a mild hypocoagulation effect and improvement of blood circulation in the paretic limb. The authors point out to the prospect of using this method for the prevention and treatment of post-stroke arthropathy.

[CLINICAL ASPECTS OF SEPTIC ENCEPHALOPATHY].

Septic encephalopathy is a form of general cerebral dysfunction caused by a systemic inflammatory reaction. Its investigation encounters enormous difficulties for the lack of reliable biological markers of neuronal lesions and methods for the evaluation of consciousness in severely ill patients. Hence, the importance of correct clinical interpretation of the character and magnitude of CNS activity. Examples are presented demonstrating the difficulty of interpreting disorders in CNS activity associated with evere community-acquired pneumonia.

[Study of changes in the enzyme-salt composition affecting the permeability of ocular tissues under infrasound phonophoresis].

This paper deals with the study of infrasound phonophoresis-induced changes in biochemical factors, which affect the permeability of eyeball tissues. During 10 days, the rabbit right eye was exposed to an infrasound in the changing pressure mode at 4 Hz and 173 dB for 10 minutes every day. The left eye remained control. After finishing a series of studies, the animals were slaughtered, the eyes were enucleated and prepared into individual tissues. Changes in sodium-potassium composition were investigated in the first series. By causing a reduction in the cellular content of K+, infrasound exposure was found to cause a decrease in membranous potential and activation Na-channel, as confirmed by the elevated intracellular levels of Na+. This in turn enhances ocular tissue permeability for drugs without damaging the structure of a cell membrane. Changes in the activity of the following enzymes: beta-glucosidase, cathepsin D, and hy- aluronidase. Infrasound was ascertained to enhance the activity of beta-glucosidase, which accounts for the lower levels of glucose in ocular tissues and points to the activation and acceleration of biochemical processes in the tissues. At the same time the increased concentrations of cathepsin D and hyaluronidase found in ocular tissues were responsible for a temporary reduction in the viscosity of hyaluronic acid, which promotes resolution of opacities, adhesions or scars and increased tissue permeability.

[Electron-microscopic changes of the brain in acute experimental peritonitis (AEP)]. / élektonno-mikroskopicheskie izmeneniia golovnogo mozga pri ostrom experimental'nom peritonite.

It is shown that changes in the vessels of the central nervous system, neurons and interneuron links--synapses develop in AEP. Increasing diffuse-focal destructive brain changes are morphological substrate of toxico-hypoxic encephalopathy and basis for disturbances of an integrative-trigger action of the brain.

[Morphology and morphogenetic mechanisms of brain lesions in acute generalized peritonitis]. / Morfologiia i morfogeneticheskie mekhanizmy porazhenii golovnogo mozga pri ostrom razlitom peritonite.

Pronounced alterations of brain elements (vessels, neurocytes, glial cells, neural fibers and synaptic apparatus) are observed in acute generalized peritonitis. The following morphological forms of peritoneal encephalopathy were recognized: diffuse-focal lesions, incomplete partial necroses, inflammatory changes in the form of meningitis and encephalitis. The morphological changes were provoked by some factors resultant from developing endotoxicosis and homeostatic disorders. Structural disturbances may play a leading role in polyorganic insufficiency and under certain conditions may have an independent tanatogenetic significance.

[Structure of lethal outcomes of combat trauma occurred on a battlefield during the war in the Northern Caucasus]. / Struktura letal'nykh iskhodov boevoi travmy, nastupivshikh na pole boia, v period vooruzhennogo konflikta na Severnom Kavkaze.

A clinico-anatomical analysis of lethal outcomes in combat trauma allows judging about the level of organization and quality of first aid at battlefield. The investigation showed that under conditions of modern military conflicts the wounds are grave, in many cases compound and multiple. The wounds are often located on the head, chest, abdomen and lower limbs, prevailing causes of death--lethal trauma and bleeding. The results of this study show the necessity of perfecting organization and quality of the first aid at the battle field and of providing the military with modern efficient accident preventatives.

[Urgent problems of medical aid in infectious endocarditis]. / Aktual'nye voprosy meditsinskoi pomoshchi pri infektsionnom éndokardite.

The authors analyze the incidence of infectious endocarditis (IE), the influence of diagnostic time on the lethality, the significance of surgical treatment. The main ways of further improvement of IE patient therapy are defined. They include the training of medical staff, centralization of the patients in the military medical institutions of the center by transfer from the districts after making the diagnosis in order to conduct the adequate medicamentous and appropriate surgical treatment.

[Experimental study of infrasonic phonophoresis]. / Izuchenie iavleniia infrazvukovogo fonoforeza v éksperimente.

A new method of drug administration, infrared phonophoresis, was experimentally studied. The method has no analogs in the world. The study was carried out on 20 Chinchilla rabbits. Water applications impregnated with equal volumes of the radiopharmaceutical (RP) were placed into the conjunctival cavities of both eyes. The right eye was control and the left was treated by infrasound (experiment). The information was recorded in live animals after removal of the application and thorough washing of the conjunctival cavity immediately, 30 min, and 1 h after infrasound phonophoresis session. Radioactivity measurements at all terms indicate its stable increase in the experimental eye and a progressive decrease in the control eye. Hence, infrasound promoted long accumulation of the RP in the eye at anterior route of the drug delivery without preliminary injection of the drug into ocular vessels.