Large-scale study of the precision of the approximate number system: Differences between formats, heterogeneity and congruency effects.

The study used a large sample of elementary schoolchildren in Russia (N = 3,448, 51.6% were girls, with a mean age of 8.70 years, ranging 6-11 years) to investigate the congruency, format and heterogeneity effects in a nonsymbolic comparison test and between-individual differences in these effects with generalized linear mixed effects models (GLMMs). The participants were asked to compare two arrays of figures of different colours in spatially separated or spatially intermixed formats. In addition, the figures could be similar or different for the two arrays. The results revealed that congruency (difference between congruent and incongruent items), format (difference between mixed and separated formats) and heterogeneity (difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions) interacted. The heterogeneity effect was higher in the separated format, while the format effect was higher for the homogeneous condition. The separated format produced a greater congruency effect than the mixed format. In addition, the congruency effect was lower in the heterogeneous condition than in the homogeneous condition. Analysis of between-individual differences revealed that there was significant between-individual variance in the format and congruency effects. Analysis of between-grade differences revealed that accuracy improved from grade 1 to grade 4 only for congruent trials in separated formats. Consequently, the congruency effect increased in separated/homogeneous and separated/heterogeneous conditions. In general, the study demonstrated that the test format and heterogeneity affected accuracy and that this effect varied for congruent and incongruent items.

[Organization of rehabilitation and treatment measures in the armed forces of foreign countries].

The authors present an analysis of current state of rehabilitation and treatment system in the armed forces of foreign countries, and main directions of its development. The authors summarize an experience in the field of organization and carrying out of rehabilitation and treatment measures in the armed forces of foreign countries, and also define possible ways of how to apply gained experience in organizing sanatorium-resort provision for servicemen of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

[Experience of medical backup of military parade on Red Square. Authors showed data about medical backup of military personnel taking part in the parade on Red Square dedicating to anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War].

Authors showed data about medical backup of military personnel taking part in the parade on Red Square dedicating to anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Experience of running such events allowed to work out an algorithm for medical service: preparatory stage, training stage, running of parade, stage of move out to permanent base. During the parade on Red Square for medical care asked 18 people (participants of parade and civilians). Authors came to conclusion that as a result of medical backup of military personnel taking part in the parade no infectious and group diseases were registered.

[Analysis and working data of day hospital of district consultation-and-diagnostic out-patient hospital].

The article is devoted to organization and establishment, aims and capacity rates of day hospital of district consultion-and-diagnostic out-patient hospital. 7894 patients were treated in the day hospital during 2007-2011. Percent of patients treated in therapeutic department--65.3%, surgical department--16.7%, neurologic--18%. Length of hospital stay in average is 9.3 days. It is shorter than the length of hospital stay in specialized departments of the hospital. Average cost of stay in day hospital is 380 rubles. The price of stay in day hospital is significantly lower cheaper than in hospital. Except cost cut of treatment and rehabilitation, payments of temporary and permanent disability are diminished due to reduction of treatment terms in case of achievement of therapeutic effect. Also bed capacity of hospital gets free.

[Improvement of pharmaceutical benefits for military retirees in outpatient care].

For the purpose of improvement of pharmaceutical benefits for military retirees was designed the drug usage standard. This standard consists of 216 drug titles and is utilized in outpatient care in case of consistency. Monthly outpatient care costs for one military retiree are more than 900 rubles. New procedural and institutional mechanisms, ways of interdepartmental interactions, rational forms of its organization are necessary for the improvement of the effectiveness. These measures correspond to main principals of reorganization of the system of health care.

[Dental orthopedic service for retirees from MD RF in medical institutions of state and municipal system of healthcare].

Financial feasibility study of dental orthopedic service for retirees of Ministry of Defence is analyzed, suggestions about the organization of dental orthopedic service for contingent in medical institution of state and municipal system of healthcare. Information about the number of retirees, index of needs in dental orthopedic service which was 40,29%, information about 2806 prosthodontics oders for retirees in military medical institution, data about the average price of production of dental in different subjects of Russian Federation is the basis of the given research. Algorithm of dental orthopedic service for retirees by stomatologies is suggested.

[Major-General of Medical Service--Alexander Egorovich Deviatkin (to his 70th birthday anniversary)].

The article is devoted to the 70th anniversary of Armed Forces veteran, a distinguished physician of the Russian Federation, former head of the medical service of the North Caucasian Military District (1991-1999), Major-General of Medical Service Alexander Egorovich Devyatkin (27.02.1942-15.04.2003). With the outbreak of hostilities in the Chechen Republic A.E. Devyatkin was appointed to chief of medical service combined grouping of troops (forces). In the current environment, when combat operations had a number of specific features, he showed a high organizational abilities. It was he who, abandoning the pattern, planned and implemented a new system of medical care. Under the leadership of A.E. Devyatkina was then applied to a new system of medical evacuation. To evacuate the wounded and sick from the front edge of the medical company, medical battalion used armored vehicles, and the evacuation of the military hospitals was carried out only by air. All life is a worthy example of the general selfless service to the Motherland and was devoted to the noble cause of preserving and strengthening the health of the Armed Forces of our country.

Novel biotin phosphoramidites with super-long tethering arms.

A number of novel biotin phosphoramidites, possessing exceptionally long and uncharged tethering arms, were synthesized from methoxyoxalamido (MOX) and succinimido (SUC) precursors. Included among these monomers is a uridine derivative with the biotin moiety attached through the 2'-position. Some of these phosphoramidites were used to make 5'-biotinylated primers, which were applied in direct sequencing of genomic DNA and capture of Sanger fragment pools.

[Monomers of a satellite sequence of chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs L., Aves: Passeriformes) genome contains short clusters of the TTTAGGG repeat]. / Satellitnaia posledovatel'nost' iz genoma ziablika (Fringilla coelebs L., Aves: Passeriformes), monomery kotoroi soderzhat korotkie klastery povtora TTAGGG.

A novel repeated sequence of chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) designated as GS was isolated from genomic DNA after in vitro amplification of satellite DNA sequences using GSP-PCR technique. The proportion of this repeat in the chaffinch genome constitutes about 2%. Monomers are 176 to 199 bp in size and contain a short cluster of the TTAGGG telomeric tandem repeat. The oligomer of the telomeric hexanucleotide is flanked by the sequences that are significantly different in different monomers. The GS sequences are organized as tandemly repeated units and located in a number of chromomycin-positive blocks on the long arms of macrochromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, as well as on several microchromosomes. The sequences homologous to the GS satellite of chaffinch were not found in the genomes of redwing (Turdus iliacus) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus).

2'-modified oligonucleotides from methoxyoxalamido and succinimido precursors: synthesis, properties, and applications.

Synthesis of 2'-modified oligonucleotides from 2'-methoxyoxalamido (MOX) and 2'-succinimido (SUC) precursors is described. Their physical and biochemical properties were assessed. Synthesized oligonucleotides were used as primers in advanced DNA sequencing protocols. An example of sequencing directly off genomic DNA template without prior cloning or PCR amplification is presented.

[Analysis of the structure-functional features of a highly-repeating centromere sequence from the Fringilla coelebs L. (Aves: Passeriformes) genome]. / Analiz strukturno-funktsional'nykh osobennoste vysokopovtoriaiushcheisia tsentromernoi posledovatel;nosti iz genoma Fringilla coelebs L. (Aves: Passeriformes).

A highly repetitive centromeric Fringilla coelebs PstI (FCP) element was cloned and sequenced. The FCP tandem repeats with unit 505 or 506 nt accounted for about 0.9% of the entire genome and had 57% GC. Direct genomic sequencing with FCP-specific primers and ThermoFidelase 2A revealed the consensus sequence and the five most common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the FCP unit. FCP may be transcribed and may play a role in spatial arrangement of the genome.

Centromeric tandem repeat from the chaffinch genome: isolation and molecular characterization.

A new family of avian centromeric satellites is described. The highly repeated sequence, designated FCP (Fringilla coelebs PstI element), was cloned from the 500-bp PstI digest fraction of the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs L.) genomic DNA, sequenced, and characterized. The FCP repeat was found to have 505-506 bp length of monomer, 57% content of GC, to compose about 0.9% of the chaffinch genome, and to be highly methylated. Results of Southern-blot hybridization of cloned FCP element onto genomic DNA digested with different restriction enzymes, and sequencing directly from total genomic DNA using FCP-specific primers and ThermoFidelase enzyme (Fidelity Systems Inc.) were in agreement with a tandem arrangement of this repeat in the chaffinch genome. Five positions of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were found in the FCP monomers using direct genomic sequencing. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with FCP probe and primed in situ labelling (PRINS) with FCP specific primers showed that the FCP elements occupy pericentric regions of all chaffinch chromosomes. On chromosome spreads, the fluorescent signals were also observed in the intercentromeric connectives between nonhomologous chromosomes. The results suggest that the centromeric FCP repeat is responsible for chromosome ordering during mitosis in chaffinch.

Structure-expression relationships of the 15-kDa selenoprotein gene. Possible role of the protein in cancer etiology.

Selenium has been implicated in cancer prevention, but the mechanism and possible involvement of selenoproteins in this process are not understood. To elucidate whether the 15-kDa selenoprotein may play a role in cancer etiology, the complete sequence of the human 15-kDa protein gene was determined, and various characteristics associated with expression of the protein were examined in normal and malignant cells and tissues. The 51-kilobase pair gene for the 15-kDa selenoprotein consisted of five exons and four introns and was localized on chromosome 1p31, a genetic locus commonly mutated or deleted in human cancers. Two stem-loop structures resembling selenocysteine insertion sequence elements were identified in the 3'-untranslated region of the gene, and only one of these was functional. Two alleles in the human 15-kDa protein gene were identified that differed by two single nucleotide polymorphic sites that occurred within the selenocysteine insertion sequence-like structures. These 3'-untranslated region polymorphisms resulted in changes in selenocysteine incorporation into protein and responded differently to selenium supplementation. Human and mouse 15-kDa selenoprotein genes manifested the highest level of expression in prostate, liver, kidney, testis, and brain, and the level of the selenoprotein was reduced substantially in a malignant prostate cell line and in hepatocarcinoma. The expression pattern of the 15-kDa protein in normal and malignant tissues, the occurrence of polymorphisms associated with protein expression, the role of selenium in differential regulation of polymorphisms, and the chromosomal location of the gene may be relevant to a role of this protein in cancer.

Combination of a drug targeting the cell with a drug targeting the virus controls human immunodeficiency virus type 1 resistance.

Combinations of drugs targeting viral proteins have been used to limit or control drug resistance, which is the most important cause of treatment failure in HIV-1-infected individuals. We suggest an alternative approach, namely to target cellular proteins, which are less prone to mutations than viral proteins. Here we show that simultaneous inhibition of a cellular protein (by hydroxyurea) and a viral protein (by ddI) produces a consistent and sustained suppression of HIV-1 for as long as 40 weeks in the absence of virus rebound. We identified the mechanism to explain this lack of rebound: although the combination of the two drugs did not prevent the emergence of mutant viral strains resistant to didanosine (ddI) in these patients, the mutants were still sensitive to standard doses of ddI in the presence of hydroxyurea. These in vivo results were consistent with our in vitro observations: HIV-1 molecular clones resistant to ddI were rendered sensitive to this drug (at concentrations routinely achievable in vivo) after addition of hydroxyurea. This phenomenon can be explained by the observation that hydroxyurea decreases the level of dATP, the cellular competitor of ddI. A low level of dATP favors the incorporation of ddI, even if the viral reverse transcriptase is resistant to this nucleoside analog. This is a novel mechanism of control of resistance and it explains the efficacy of a treatment that is well tolerated, simple, and inexpensive.

Didanosine but not high doses of hydroxyurea rescue pigtail macaque from a lethal dose of SIV(smmpbj14).

It has been previously reported that hydroxyurea (HU) displays anti-HIV-1 activity and potentiates the antiviral effects of didanosine (ddI) in vitro. To assess the antiviral efficacy of HU in an animal model, the effects of HU and ddI, either individually or as combination therapy, were tested in a model using infection of pigtail macaque with the acutely fatal variant SIV(smpbj14). At the high dosage used (100 mg/kg/day), HU monotherapy failed to protect the exposed animals from viral infection and death, which occurred within 10 days postinoculation. However, both of the ddI-treated animals (5 mg/kg/day) survived the SIV(smmpbj14) lethal dose and displayed a reduction in viral load (undetectable SIV RNA or p27gag) in the primary phase of infection. Of the animals treated with the combination of drugs, one died at day 18 after infection and failed to seroconvert to viral antigens. These data suggest that a high dose of HU monotherapy does not protect against death induced by SIV(mmpbj14). However, lower doses of HU as monotherapy or combination therapy deserve further evaluation for their therapeutic effects.

Multiple determinants for growth of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in monocyte-macrophages.

Attempts to define the genetic determinants required for efficient growth of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in monocyte-macrophages were made by constructing chimeras between two infectious clones of HIV-1 (HXB2 and LW/C), which despite only minor differences in their DNA sequence have striking differences in cell tropism. Although both of them replicate efficiently in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, HXB2 replicates extensively in permanent T cell lines but poorly in primary monocyte macrophages (T cell line tropic); the reverse is true for LW/C (macrophage tropic). The envelope proved to contain the major determinants of macrophage tropism. However, tropism determinants appeared to be scattered along the envelope. In particular, the V3 loop alone appeared to be neither necessary nor sufficient for growth in macrophages. Both vpr and nef genes appeared to play a less significant role to improve viral replication in macrophages, but only in the presence of the proper envelope sequences. HIV-1 macrophage tropism thus appears to result from the contribution of several different determinants.

Hydroxyurea as an inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 replication.

Hydroxyurea, a drug widely used in therapy of several human diseases, inhibits deoxynucleotide synthesis--and, consequently, DNA synthesis--by blocking the cellular enzyme ribonucleotide reductase. Hydroxyurea inhibits human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1) DNA synthesis in activated peripheral blood lymphocytes by decreasing the amount of intracellular deoxynucleotides, thus suggesting that this drug has an antiviral effect. Hydroxyurea has now been shown to block HIV-1 replication in acutely infected primary human lymphocytes (quiescent and activated) and macrophages, as well as in blood cells infected in vivo obtained from individuals with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The antiviral effect was achieved at nontoxic doses of hydroxyurea, lower than those currently used in human therapy. Combination of hydroxyurea with the nucleoside analog didanosine (2',3'-dideoxyinosine, or ddl) generated a synergistic inhibitory effect without increasing toxicity. In some instances, inhibition of HIV-1 by hydroxyurea was irreversible, even several weeks after suspension of drug treatment. The indirect inhibition of HIV-1 by hydroxyurea is not expected to generate high rates of escape mutants. Hydroxyurea therefore appears to be a possible candidate for AIDS therapy.

Epidemiology of HIV infection in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Overall HIV-1 prevalence in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) is extremely low (0.002%). HIV-2 infection has not been detected. The possible mode of virus entry was through sexual contacts with infected foreigners, the earliest documented date being prior to 1982. Among 25 seropositive males, 18 are homosexual and five are bisexual, suggesting that the virus is circulating within resident population of homo/bisexual males. The total incidence of new infections has not shown the type of dramatic increase noted in US gay/bisexual men in early 1980s. Information on lifestyle characterization of this indigenous population require further study to determine the future potential for spread. Among the non-Soviet population the rate is 0.01%. Highest rates occur among persons from HIV endemic areas of Africa, with rates as high as 5% and 3% among persons from Uganda and Rwanda, respectively. Rates among new entrants from Africa are lower, possibly reflecting the impact of prescreening of applicants prior to arrival in Russia. Further monitoring of high-risk populations and studies to define behavior risk pattern are planned.

[The detection of the human immunodeficiency virus antigen in the lymphoid cells of seropositive subjects]. / Vyiavlenie antigena virusa immunodefitsita cheloveka v limfoidnykh kletkakh seropozitivnykh lits.

Cells from anti-HIV-positive persons were used in experiments for virus isolation. The RT-activity, viral antigen, nucleic acids, electron microscopic morphology, and infectivity were studied. The data presented allow a conclusion that the virus was isolated. These data confirmed the previous diagnosis of HIV infection.