Development and evaluation of a real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of Ebola virus (Zaire) during an Ebola outbreak in Guinea in 2014-2015.

In early February 2014, an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) occurred in Guinea; cases were also recorded in other West African countries with a combined population of approximately 25 million. A rapid, sensitive and inexpensive method for detecting EBOV is needed to effectively control such outbreak. Here, we report a real-time reverse-transcription PCR assay for Z. ebolavirus detection used by the Specialized Anti-epidemic Team of the Russian Federation during the Ebola virus disease prevention mission in the Republic of Guinea. The analytical sensitivity of the assay is 5 × 10(2) viral particles per ml, and high specificity is demonstrated using representative sampling of viral, bacterial and human nucleic acids. This assay can be applied successfully for detecting the West African strains of Z. ebolavirus as well as on strains isolated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

[Assessment of epidemic manifestations of the West Nile fever in the Volgograd region depending on the climatic conditions].

Results of the analysis of the increase in the incidence of epidemic of the West Nile fever and climate conditions in the Volgograd region were presented. Certain seasonal periods and threshold values of temperature and humidity statistically associated with the epidemic rise were identified. The discussion of the probable mechanisms of indirect effects of atmospheric heat on the elements of the epidemic process was carried out.

[Information technologies in epidemiological control of natural-focal infectious diseases].

An approach to increase effectiveness of epidemiological control of Crimean hemorrhagic fever, West Nile fever and Astrakhan spotted fever by building a prognostic model of epidemic activity based on contemporary information technologies of spatial and intellectual data analysis was developed and tested. Personified data on 4505 laboratory confirmed cases of natural-focal infectious diseases registered in the Russian Federation and database on 1999 - 2011 climatic observations were processed. A model implementing prognosis of epidemiological situation intensity level as a function of a combination of factors, maps of density of epidemic manifestations were built. On a practical example high effectiveness of the approach to epidemiological analysis based on the use of contemporary analytical technologies for evaluation of temporal and spatial categories of epidemiological risk was demonstrated.

[Choice of surgical approach in cervical spondylogenic myelopathy].

The purpose of this study was to provide a rationale for surgical decompression in degenetative stenosis in terms of differential electrophysiological evaluation of sensory and motor conduction. The study has provided an algorithm for a comprehensive preoperative examination of patients, which makes it possible to perform differentiated decompressive operations for cervical myelopathy with the higher efficiency of postoperative neurological recovery as compared with conventional methods.

[Preoperative study of the good condition of nerve neurotizers].

In traumatic injury of the brachial plexus, neurotization of peripheral nerves of the hand with different nerve donors is indicated at the preganglionary level in order to restore motor function. This communication describes a procedure for preoperatively determining the state of the nerves to be neurotized. This procedure evaluates the, state of the estimated nerve donors and presents a means of planning in advance the way of performing an operation aimed at recovering the lost motor functions, by considerably reducing the time of the operation.

[Effects of lithium hydroxybutyrate and vagotomy on respiratory arrest caused by systemic serotonin administration in rats].

The role of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHBA) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the mechanisms of respiratory arrest after systemic serotonin administration has been studied in anaesthetized outbred male rats. Under normal conditions, serotonin (5-HT) administration (20 - 60 microg/kg, i.v.) leads to specific changes in the respiratory pattern, whereby a short (approximately 5 sec) increase in the respiratory rate is followed by a longer (up to approximately 20 sec) respiratory arrest. Pretreatment with Li-GHBA salt (750 mg/kg, i.v.) did not significantly change the first stage of the respiratory response to serotonin administration, but excluded or significantly reduced the stage of respiratory arrest. The effect of bilateral vagotomy on the respiratory pattern upon serotonin administration was very similar to the action of GHBA. It is suggested that GHBA as a neuromodulator probably participates in the mechanisms of respiratory control after serotonin administration.

[Epidural anesthesia in surgical interventions on the spine and spinal cord. II. Effects of epidural anesthesia on somatosensory evoked potentials]. / Epidural'naia anesteziia pri operativnykh vmeshatel'stvakh na pozvonochnike i spinnom mozge. Chast' II. Vliianie épidural'noi anestezii na somatosensornykh vyzvannye potentsialy.

Effects of epidural anesthesia (EA) on early components of somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) were studied and the objectiveness and efficiency of SSEP monitoring during interventions on the spine under EA were evaluated. Evoked potentials were studied in 21 patients operated on for vertebral disk hernias and extra-intradural tumors of the spine (lower thoracic and lumbar levels) under bupivacaine EA. Cortical SSEP were recorded and analyzed on a Viking IV neuroaverager (Nicolet, USA) stimulating n. tibialis posterior for obtaining a greater amplitude of evoked potentials. The following SSEP characteristics were measured: latency of PI (P37), NI (N45), and PII (P60) peaks, amplitude of PINI peak, and inter-peak latency of PI-NI and PI-PII. The major changes in cortical SSEP caused by EA (local anesthetic 0.5% bupivacaine) involve only PI and NI components which reflect the entry of information on an external stimulus into the cortex and objective physical parameters of this stimulus; this helps predict the onset of full-value epidural block and its duration. General anesthetic (propofol) affect mainly a later component of response, PII peak, which is responsible for processing of primary information about an external stimulus and reflects the activation of associative areas of the brain. Hence, SSEP regulation can be used together with traditional methods (pin prick test and Bromage scale) for evaluating epidural block in patients with spinal diseases.

[The effect of selective dorsal rhizotomy on motor function in patients with infantile cerebral palsy]. / Vliianie selektivnoi rizotomii na dvigatel'nuiu funktsiiu bol'nykh detskim tserebral'nym paralichom.

The authors analyze the outcomes of surgical treatment in 15 CP patients with lower paraparesis who had been treated with selective dorsal rhizotomy at the L2-S2 level. All the patients were examined by neurological study, EMG, EEG, visual evoked potential (VEP) recording and motor reaction time estimation. Based on the findings, it is suggested that SPR lumbosacral spinal level may affect cerebral function. Some motor functional changes are associated with this impact. Possible mechanisms of these changes are discussed.

[The use of selective dorsal rhizotomy for treating spasticity in patients with infantile cerebral palsy]. / Primenenie selektivnoi dorsal'noi rizotomii dlia lecheniia spastichnosti u bol'nykh detskim tserebral'nym paralichom.

The paper gives the results of using selective dorsal rhizotomy at the lumbosacral level in 15 children with infantile cerebral paralysis, 12 of whom were at the age of 6 to 15 years. It also discusses surgical techniques, the use of intraoperative stimulation, and the impact of selective dorsal rhizotomy on muscle tone. The paper provides evidence for the benefits of surgery reducing the muscle tone at the expense of its spastic component. Based on the relationship between the number of cut fibers as part of each root and the degree of decreased muscle tone, a procedure is proposed for conservative surgical interventions to be used in patients employing spasticity for support.

[Changes in the motor sphere after brain revascularization in ischemic lesions]. / Izmeneniia v dvigatel'noi sfere posle revaskuliarizatsii golovnogo mozga pri ishemicheskikh porazheniiakh.

The authors studied the changes in the motor sphere in 75 patients with brain ischemia before and after creation of an extra-intracranial microvascular anastomosis (EICMA). Voluntary efforts of the hand and the volume of movements at all joints and the muscular tonus were measured. The last named was studied both by means of ordinary clinical manipulations and by special devices allowing determination of the value of the spastic component, rigidity, and the contracture component. Symptoms reflecting the condition of the motor sphere, the muscular tonus included, were found to be most informative among the variety of neurological signs. Mechanographic studies in dynamics provide the possibility for appraising the efficacy of the treatment and, evidently, for prognosticating its outcome. The operation of EICMA improves the patient's condition and even restores his working capacity if it restores circulation of blood in those parts of the brain the functioning of which was temporarily disturbed due to insufficiency of the blood flow.

[Pathologic muscle coactivation after injury of the brachial plexus]. / Patologicheskaia koaktivatsiia myshts posle travmy plechevogo spleteniia.

As many as 58 patients with injury to the nerve trunks of brachial plexus were examined. As a consequence of the generation of nerve fibers after injury to brachial plexus or after surgical treatment, marked coactivation of muscles including antagonistic ones may not infrequently occur in patients at voluntary efforts. That coactivation may give rise to a noticeable decrease of the power effect of limb muscles. It may turn out at the same time that the same motoneurons act as representatives in different muscles. The most probable mechanism of pathological coactivation is the branching of axons during their branching into separate little branches each of which can, via the nerve membranes, grow towards different muscles including antagonistic ones. The branching of nerve fibers towards different muscles is likely to occur at anastomoses of the nerve trunk membranes. Thus, peculiar "nerve anastomoses" may occur. Via those anastomoses, nerve impulses have a possibility of "flowing" from one nerve to the other one. The phenomenon described should be taken into consideration in reconstructive surgery on brachial plexus.

[The microsurgical treatment of traumatic lesions of the brachial plexus]. / Mikrokhirurgicheskoe lechenie travmaticheskikh porazhenii plechevogo spleteniia.

The article deals with the results of examination and surgical treatment of 213 patients with various forms and levels of traumatic damage of the branchial plexus. Five levels of damages are suggested: I--preganglionic; II--postganglionic damage of the spinal nerves and primary trunks of the brachial plexus; III--damage of the secondary trunks in the clavicular region; IV--damage of the distal parts of the brachial plexus; V--isolated damages of the initial parts of the peripheral nerves. The authors describe surgical management by the method of differentiated neurotization with nerves arising from different segments of the spinal cords, by-passing the brachial plexus. Pathological changes in the region of the trauma, the character and level of the damage, the condition of the circulatory system, the presence or absence of pain, the applied rehabilitation therapy, the duration of the disease, the patient's age, and other factors have a marked influence on the outcome of the operation. Charts of distribution of the nerve fibres of the brachial plexus in the nerve trunks were compiled more exactly on the basis of data obtained during the operative intervention and autopsy.

[Motor function study in traumatic lesions of the brachial plexus]. / Issledovanie dvigatel'noi funktsii pri travmaticheskikh porazheniiakh plechevogo spleteniia.

The muscular tone of flexors and extensors was studied in dynamics in patients with trauma of the brachial plexus. The study involved measurement of mechanical resistance of a passive limb periodical movements at the elbow joint. The electrogram was registered synchronously with the mechanogram to study the reactions of the agonists and the antagonists. The results made it possible to judge the maintenance of nerve conduction along the efferent and afferent pathways. The method also enabled the authors to determine the degree of disorders and restoration of functioning of the neuro-muscular connections and to reveal the presence of pathological nerve connections which formed as a result of the trauma and interfered with the performance of voluntary movements. The character of the mechanical reaction of the muscles to passive movements allowed judgement of the presence of muscular contractures or stiffness of the joint.