GENDER FEATURES OF LAMINA CONTENT IN HUMAN SKIN FIBROBLASTS IN A PROCESS OF CHRONOLOGICAL AGING

The purpose of the study was to investigate gender peculiarities of the content of fibroblasts immunopositive to lamins A, B1 and B2 in skin samples in a process of chronological aging. Material and methods. 331 skin samples at the period from 20 to 40 weeks of gestation and people from birth to 85 years were examined. The content of positively stained dermal fibroblasts and the expression level of lamins A, B1 and B2 in their nucleus was explored by immunohistochemistry. Results and discussion. The gradual decrease of fibroblasts with positive staining for lamin A and the expression level of lamin A after antenatal period and up to old age depends on the age, but does not have differences, which are related to gender. The lamin B1 positively fibroblasts content is declining reliably from birth to 40 years and then it is increasing as well as the expression level of lamina B1. The indicated changes don’t have reliable variances in gender. The change in the number of lamina B2-positively colored fibroblasts and the expression level of lamina B2 has no statistically valid correlation with gender and age. Thus, there are no gender differences in dynamical age related changes of the content and the expression level of protein-lamina in skin fibroblasts in a process of chronological aging

Restoration of the Soil and Vegetation in Sandy Land with Different Stages of Deflation

The aim of this work is to reveal the features of fallow sandy lands with different stages of deflation. The virgin soil-vegetation cover was the reference point: plots with light and strong deflation were compared with it. The soil deflation stages were determined by the presence or absence of layers characteristic of the backgroundsoils of the territory. The restoration of vegetation depends on the activity of wind erosion, the properties of the soils and substrata emerging on the soil surface. Studies have shown that the soil properties of deflated plots contradict the background and classical schemes of fallow land recovery. Keywords: Trasbaikalia, Barguzin Depression, sandy lands, plant-soil cover, soil deflation, vegetation restoratio

Sea buckthorn cultivars promising for mechanized harvesting by cutting fruit-bearing branches

Background. Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is the main berry crop in the horticultural production of Altai Territory and occupies the largest growing area among berries in Russia. Meanwhile, further expansion of commercial plantations is limited by known bottlenecks in harvesting. In this context, new technological solutions in harvest mechanization are considered one of the primary tasks. A promising way is the cutting of fruit-bearing branches. At the same time, the development of cultivars suitable for such harvesting technique is very important.Materials and methods. Thirteen cultivars and selected forms of sea buckthorn developed at the Federal Altai Scientific Center of Agro-Biotechnologies were taken as research material. To evaluate the productivity of top branches, three of them with a length of 70–100 cm were cut from the plants of each accession. Fruit detachment force was assessed using a Dina-2 device. Dispersion analysis was applied for statistical interpretation.Results. Productivity of top branches as well as agronomic and biological characteristics of sea buckthorn fruits were studied. Accessions 87-93-1, 111-05-3 and 378-06-1 were identified for high productivity of their top branches and for predomination of the generative part over the vegetative one. The highest number of berries per bud (5.4–5.9 pieces) was observed in accessions 87-93-4, 32-01-1, 378-06-1 and 111-05-3. Cv. ‘Afina’ demonstrated for its high level of vegetative and generative productivity. Selected forms 111-05-3, 32-01-1 and 4-93-11 with low fruit detachment force (136.8–155.1 g) are promising for shaking without prior freezing.Conclusion. Selected forms 111-05-3, 378-06-1 and 32-01-1 were recognized as most promising for harvesting by branch cutting

Assessment of genetic polymorphism in sea buckthorn (Hippophae L.) of different environmentally-geographical origin by ISSR-markers

Sea buckthorn, despite of high popularity at the moment, is not a common object of genetic researches. Some efforts of foreign scientists in this field are concerned with only big systematic groups like species and subspecies. At the same time genetic researches inside of subspecies mongolica growing in Siberia till recently have not been started. There are too many so called ecotypes of sea buckthorn belonging to Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. mongolica growing in different environmentally-geographical areas. That is why the task of deep genetic research of that subspecies is very important. The absence of an approved procedure of genome definition for Siberian sea buckthorn makes the above task quite complicated. That is why the main aim of the current investigation was developing a procedure of ISSR-analysis for sea buckthorn growing in Siberia, as well as preliminary estimation of genetic polymorphism of sea buckthorn varieties belonging to different environmentally-geographical areas by methods of molecular markers. As a result, the procedure of ISSR-analysis for sea buckthorn growing in Siberia has been developed. From 32 estimated ISSR-markers only 6 have been educed as effective for ISSR-locus polymorphism evaluation of sea buckthorn. The annealing temperature for each primer has been found. Analyses of ISSR-markers polymorphism as well as genetic diversity of 17 sea buckthorn varieties have been done. ISSR-spectrum analyses of sea buckthorn plants have educed 56 amplified DNA fragments, 36 of them were polymorphic. According to obtained data a dendrogram of genetic affinity of evaluated varieties has been built, where one variety generates one cluster. In general, it conforms to the idea that one species is divided into subspecies and one subspecies is divided into different ecotypes. As a result of cluster analyses all investigated varieties were divided into two big groups. The first includes varieties belonging to H. rhamnoides ssp. mongolica, H. rhamnoides ssp. rhamnoides, H. rhamnoides ssp. caucasica; the second includes Danube and Yutlandian ecotypes belonging to H. rhamnoides ssp. carpatica. The occurrence of H. rhamnoides ssp. rhamnoides and H. rhamnoides ssp. caucasica inside the first group allows us to make an assumption about their closer genetic relationship with H. rhamnoides ssp. mongolica, which is consistent with their similar morphological features. Revealed ISSR-locus polymorphism as well as the results of clusters analyses allows ISSR-analyses to be recommended for sea buckthorn variability evaluation as well as for genotyping varieties

Indicators of Pasture Digression in Steppe Ecosystems of Mongolia

The research shows that widely used key measures of vegetation structure (species diversity, projected cover and above-ground phytomass) are not always suitable as indicators of pasture degradation. Based on an analysis above-ground phytomass composition, new quantitative indices are offered that give a more realistic picture of rangeland condition in Mongolia

Bush Encroachment of Forest-steppe Landscapes in the Mongolian Part of the Lake Baikal Basin

The character of competitive relationships between woody and shrub vegetation in the southern (Mongolian) part of the Lake Baikal basin was studied via model polygons. Depending on the environmental conditions, native forests are being replaced by different types of shrubs. The main factors contributing to these changesare the aridization of the climate and human activity. It is shown that the current state of shrub communities and their progressive dynamics along the southern border of boreal forests in Mongolia allow us to consider them stable cenoses, which prevent a natural renewal of coniferous (pine, larch) forests in this region. However, some shrub species may be considered indicators of ecotopes’ suitability for natural or artificial reforestation because their ecological requirements are similar to those of forest trees. Keywords: Lake Baikal basin, ecotone area, destruction of forests, bush encroachmen

Prolonged interglacial warmth during the Last Glacial in northern Europe

Few fossil-based environmental and climate records in northern Europe are dated to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a around 80 ka BP. We here present multiple environmental and climate proxies obtained from a lake sequence of MIS 5a age in the Sokli basin (northern Finland). Pollen/spores, plant macrofossils, NPPs (e.g. green algae), bryozoa, diatoms and chironomids allowed an exceptionally detailed reconstruction of aquatic and telmatic ecosystem successions related to the development of the Sokli Ice Lake and subsequent infilling of a relatively small and shallow lake confined to the Sokli basin. A regional vegetation development typical for the early half of an interglacial is recorded by the pollen, stomata and plant macrofossil data. Reconstructions of July temperatures based on pollen assemblages suffer from a large contribution of local pollen from the lake's littoral zone. Summer temperatures reaching present-day values, inferred for the upper part of the lake sequence, however, agree with the establishment of pine-dominated boreal forest indicated by the plant fossil data. Habitat preferences also influence the climate record based on chironomids. Nevertheless, the climate optima of the predominant intermediate- to warm-water chironomid taxa suggest July temperatures exceeding present-day values by up to several degrees, in line with climate inferences from a variety of aquatic and wetland plant indicator species. The disequilibrium between regional vegetation development and warm, insolation-forced summers is also reported for Early Holocene records from northern Fennoscandia. The MIS 5a sequence is the last remaining fossil-bearing deposit in the late Quaternary basin infill at Sokli to be studied using multi-proxy evidence. A unique detailed climate record for MIS 5 is now available for formerly glaciated northern Europe. Our studies indicate that interglacial conditions persisted into MIS 5a, in agreement with data for large parts of the European mainland, shortening the Last Glacial by some 50 ka to MIS 4-2.Peer reviewe

Leaf traits of C3- and C4-plants indicating climatic adaptation along a latitudinal gradient in Southern Siberia and Mongolia

Increasing aridity is one of the most important trends of current climate change. Leaf functional traits suggest a substantial basis for assessing the aridity effects on vegetation. However, since plants possess diverse leaf morphology and anatomy due to different evolutionary history of taxa, the effect of aridity can hardly be revealed in a multi-species analysis. We studied leaf functional traits for 317 samples of 193 plant species in steppe and desert communities along a 1600-km latitudinal gradient in Southern Siberia (Transbaikalia, Russia) and Mongolia. We determined morphological leaf traits, quantitative anatomical parameters, physiological parameters, and photosynthetic pigments content. Different relevance of leaf traits for indication of plant response to climate has been demonstrated. The clearest changes in site-mean values along the aridity gradient were shown for leaf thickness, total chloroplast number per leaf area (Nchl/A) and total surface area of chloroplasts (Achl/A) and cells (Ames/A) per leaf area. Unlike leaf size and leaf mass per area, these quantitative mesophyll parameters related to plant photosynthetic capacity were strongly correlated with climate. We found no evidence for a decrease in sizes of mesophyll cells with aridity, but cell volume as well as chloroplast number per cell were linked with plant functional type (PFT). We revealed an increase in Nchl/A and Achl/A in desert-steppe species in comparison to steppe and forest-steppe vegetation types within each PFT of C3-plants (C3-dicot herbs, C3-dicot shrubs, C3-monocots and C3-succulents). C4-plants were generally characterized by low Achl/A and Ames/A, but had higher rate of CO2-transfer through mesophyll and chloroplast surfaces. C3- and C4-plants differed in response to aridity and showed opposite trends in changes of leaf traits along the aridity gradient. We conclude that leaf mesophyll traits contribute to important mechanism of climatic adaptation in different PFTs along a large latitudinal gradient. © 2018 Elsevier GmbHRussian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: АААА-А17-117072810011-1, 17-29-05019, АААА-А17-117011810036-3The authors are deeply indebted Joint Russian-Mongolian Complex Biological Expedition RAS and MAS, who supported the field observation and data collection used in this study. The analytical part of this research has been partially supported by RFBR grant 17-29-05019 , and partly by project №АААА-А17-117072810011-1 of Russian Federal Budget . The research of O.A. Anenkhonov was carried out using the framework of project № АААА-А17-117011810036-3 supported by the Russian Federal Budget

Neuroinflammation, Mast Cells, and Glia: Dangerous Liaisons

The perspective of neuroinflammation as an epiphenomenon following neuron damage is being replaced by the awareness of glia and their importance in neural functions and disorders. Systemic inflammation generates signals that communicate with the brain and leads to changes in metabolism and behavior, with microglia assuming a pro-inflammatory phenotype. Identification of potential peripheral-to-central cellular links is thus a critical step in designing effective therapeutics. Mast cells may fulfill such a role. These resident immune cells are found close to and within peripheral nerves and in brain parenchyma/meninges, where they exercise a key role in orchestrating the inflammatory process from initiation through chronic activation. Mast cells and glia engage in crosstalk that contributes to accelerate disease progression; such interactions become exaggerated with aging and increased cell sensitivity to stress. Emerging evidence for oligodendrocytes, independent of myelin and support of axonal integrity, points to their having strong immune functions, innate immune receptor expression, and production/response to chemokines and cytokines that modulate immune responses in the central nervous system while engaging in crosstalk with microglia and astrocytes. In this review, we summarize the findings related to our understanding of the biology and cellular signaling mechanisms of neuroinflammation, with emphasis on mast cell-glia interactions

LONG-TERM RISKS OF CESAREAN DELIVERY: CESAREAN SCAR PREGNANCY. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

One type of ectopic pregnancy is where the pregnancy is implanted in the scar left in the uterus following a cesarean section; these cases are thought to be one in 1800-3000 pregnancies. The increase in the incidence of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) is a consequence of the increasing rates of cesarean delivery. If misdiagnosed CSP can be a cause of life-threatening pregnancy complications. They include morbidly adherent placenta, placenta previa, and severe hemorrhage. If such a pregnancy is allowed to continue, a uterine scar rupture with hemorrhage will ensue and necessitate hysterectomy. It is therefore crucial to timely diagnose and manage these pregnancies. The therapeutic options can be medical, surgical, or a combination of both. However there has been no consensus on the management still yet. In this article, there is a systematic up-to-date review on CSP diagnosis, treatment and prevention measures