The Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Antithrombin III In The Pathogenesis of the Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is an iatrogenic complication of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). Its pathogenesis is not clarified yet. In the recent years a number of studies focused on the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and antihtrombin III (AT III) indicators. VEGF is homodimeric, heparin-binding glycoprotein, stimulating vascular permeability. Antithrombin III is protease inhibitor of activated clotting factors. This study aimed at examining the VEGF-A165 and AT III indicators with two OHSS patients. Two methods were used for the determination of the indicators of VEGF-A165 and AT III: ELISA for VEGF and chromogenic assay for ATT III. Kits of R/D Systems and American Diagnostica Inc. were used to estimate VEGF and AT III indicators in serum and plasma. There were higher indicators of VEGF-A165 (180pg/ml) and reduction of AT III indicators (48%) in the patient with a severe form of OHSS than in the control group while these indicators were normal in the patient with a moderate form of OHSS. Our results confirmed some published data concerning the importance of VEGF and AT III in the genesis of OHSS. This study should include a larger group of patients in order tofollow-up statistically and authentically the variations of the indicators of both factors and their importance for OHSS

Biological resources of the Hyssopus l on the south of European Russia and prospects of its introduction

The south of European Russia (geographically - the southern part of the Central Russian Upland) has large biological and plant genetic resources. There is a concept considering the region as the second anthropogenic microgen center of formation of economically valuable plants. In the south of the Central Russian Upland, the genus Hyssopus L. is represented by two species: Hyssopus cretaceus Dubjan. and Hyssopus officinalis L. Accomplished the study of biological resources of species of the genus Hyssopus L. in vivo and in vitr

Hardiness of adolescents with special educational needs: Research results

The relevance of the problem under study is due to the fact that the current worldwide trend shows high dynamics of the increase in the number of children with SEN, which requires that society in general and the education system, in particular, should develop approaches to the socialization and adaptation of people with SEN through strengthening their personal resources. The purpose of the article is to explore the peculiarities of the phenomenology and structure of hardiness of adolescents with SEN in comparison with the conventionally healthy peers. The main method applied in the research of this problem is a comparative study based on the cross-sectional method, which makes it possible to identify the specificity of hardiness of adolescents with SEN. The results of the research: the research revealed the peculiarities of expression and relationship of the components of hardiness of adolescents with SEN in comparison with the conventionally healthy peers. The materials of the article may be useful for educational and social psychologists in devising programs for psychological support and comprehensive psycho-social assistance to families with children with SEN, which will contribute to the successful integration of adolescents with SEN in society. © 2016 Shchipanova et al

The first dinosaur egg from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Siberia, Russia

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group The Lower Cretaceous Ilek Formation in Western Siberia (Russia) has yielded various vertebrate fossils, including skeletal remains of dinosaurs. Here we report on a fragmentary theropod egg from the vertebrate locality Shestakovo 3 of the Ilek Formation in Kemerovo Province. We assign the specimen to the oogenus Prismatoolithus (oofamily Prismatoolithidae) as Prismatoolithus ilekensis oosp. nov., on the basis of the following unique combination of characters: ovoid-shaped egg; thin eggshell 300–330 μm thick; angustiprismatic morphotype; eggshell with three different layers; gradual transition between mammillary layer and prismatic layer; abrupt contact between prismatic layer and external layer; mammillary layer to prismatic layer to external layer thickness ratio is 1:3:0.6; prismatic layer with ill-defined squamatic texture; angusticanaliculate pore system; and smooth outer surface. Like other Early Creataceous Prismatoolithus, the egg of Prismatoolithus ilekensis oosp. nov. was laid by a small bodied theropod dinosaur (troodontid or primitive bird) and this taxonomic attribution is supported by results of our phylogenetic analysis. Prismatoolithus ilekensis oosp. nov. is the first Early Cretaceous ootaxon from Russia. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:734EAD40-86C3-488B-A61E-B5FF7378BC0

Rotational properties of the O-type star population in the Tarantula region

The 30 Doradus (30\,Dor) region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (also known as the Tarantula Nebula) is the nearest massive starburst region, containing the richest sample of massive stars in the Local Group. It is the best possible laboratory to investigate aspects of the formation and evolution of massive stars. Here, we focus on rotation which is a key parameter in the evolution of these objects. We establish the projected rotational velocity, $v_{e}\sin i$, distribution of an unprecedented sample of 216 radial velocity constant ($\rm{\Delta RV\, \leq\, 20 \,km s^{-1}}$) O-type stars in 30\,Dor observed in the framework of the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS). The distribution of $v_{e}\sin i$ shows a two-component structure: a peak around 80 $\rm{km s^{-1}}$ and a high-velocity tail extending up to $\sim$600 $\rm{km s^{-1}}$. Around 75% of the sample has 0 $\leq\, v_{e}\sin i \leq$ 200 $\rm{km s^{-1}}$ with the other 25% distributed in the high-velocity tail. The presence of the low-velocity peak is consistent with that found in other studies of late-O and early-B stars. The high-velocity tail is compatible with expectations from binary interaction synthesis models and may be predominantly populated by post-binary interaction, spun-up, objects and mergers. This may have important implications for the nature of progenitors of long-duration gamma ray bursts.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Conference proceedings article: Massive stars: from alpha to Omega, 10-14 June 2013, Rhodes, Greec

Rotational velocities of single and binary O-type stars in the Tarantula Nebula

Rotation is a key parameter in the evolution of massive stars, affecting their evolution, chemical yields, ionizing photon budget, and final fate. We determined the projected rotational velocity, $v_e\sin i$, of $\sim$330 O-type objects, i.e. $\sim$210 spectroscopic single stars and $\sim$110 primaries in binary systems, in the Tarantula nebula or 30 Doradus (30\,Dor) region. The observations were taken using VLT/FLAMES and constitute the largest homogeneous dataset of multi-epoch spectroscopy of O-type stars currently available. The most distinctive feature of the $v_e\sin i$ distributions of the presumed-single stars and primaries in 30 Dor is a low-velocity peak at around 100\,$\rm{km s^{-1}}$. Stellar winds are not expected to have spun-down the bulk of the stars significantly since their arrival on the main sequence and therefore the peak in the single star sample is likely to represent the outcome of the formation process. Whereas the spin distribution of presumed-single stars shows a well developed tail of stars rotating more rapidly than 300\,$\rm{km s^{-1}}$, the sample of primaries does not feature such a high-velocity tail. The tail of the presumed-single star distribution is attributed for the most part -- and could potentially be completely due -- to spun-up binary products that appear as single stars or that have merged. This would be consistent with the lack of such post-interaction products in the binary sample, that is expected to be dominated by pre-interaction systems. The peak in this distribution is broader and is shifted toward somewhat higher spin rates compared to the distribution of presumed-single stars. Systems displaying large radial velocity variations, typical for short period systems, appear mostly responsible for these differences.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 307, 2014, 'New windows on massive stars: asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry

Systematic study of the low-lying electric dipole strength in Sn isotopes and its astrophysical implications

The $\gamma$-ray strength functions (GSF) and nuclear level densities (NLD) below the neutron threshold have been extracted for $^{111-113,116-122,124}$Sn from particle-$\gamma$ coincidence data with the Oslo method. The evolution of bulk properties of the low-lying electric dipole response has been investigated on the basis of the Oslo GSF data and results of a recent systematic study of electric and magnetic dipole strengths in even-even Sn isotopes with relativistic Coulomb excitation. The obtained GSFs reveal a resonance-like peak on top of the tail of the isovector giant dipole resonance, centered at $\approx$8 MeV and exhausting $\approx$2\% of the classical Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn (TRK) sum. In contrast to predictions of the relativistic quasiparticle random-phase and time-blocking approximation calculations (RQRPA and RQTBA), no monotonous increase in the total low-lying $E1$ strength was observed in the experimental data from $^{111}$Sn to $^{124}$Sn, demonstrating rather similar strength distributions in these nuclei. The Oslo GSFs and NLDs were further used as inputs to constrain the cross sections and Maxwellian-averaged cross sections of $(n,\gamma)$ reactions in the Sn isotopic chain using TALYS. The obtained results agree well with other available experimental data and the recommended values from the JINA REACLIB, BRUSLIB, and KADoNiS libraries. Despite relatively small exhausted fractions of the TRK sum rule, the low-lying electric dipole strength makes a noticeable impact on the radiative neutron-capture cross sections in stable Sn isotopes. Moreover, the experimental Oslo inputs for the $^{121,123}$Sn$(n,\gamma)$$^{122,124}$Sn reactions were found to affect the production of Sb in the astrophysical $i$-process, providing new constraints on the uncertainties of the resulting chemical abundances from multi-zone low-metallicity Asymptotic Giant Branch stellar models.Comment: 27 pages, 14 pages. Submitted to Physical Review C journal on 13 November 202

Экспрессия интерферон-стимулированных генов у пациентов с ревматоидным артритом на фоне анти-В-клеточной терапии (предварительные результаты)

Objective: to evaluate the expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISG) – interferon (IFN) signature – in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its dynamics during anti-B-cell therapy.Patients and methods.We examined 20 patients with RA who received two infusions of the biosimilar rituximab (RTM) Acellbia® in a total dose of 1200 mg. Five genes were selected to evaluate IFN signature: IFI44L, MX1, IFIT1, RSAD2, EPSTI1. The expression of IFI44L and IFIT1 could not be determined for technical reasons, and further analysis included three genes – MX1, EPSTI1, RSAD2. IFN signature was calculated as the average value of the expression of three selected genes (IFN-score).Results and discussion. The initial expression level of MX1 was 11.48 (5.45–19.38), EPSTI1 – 12.83 (5.62–19.64), RSAD2 – 5.16 (2.73–10.4) and IFN-score –10.3 (5.18–17.12), in patients with RA it was statistically significantly higher than in healthy donors: 1.26 (0.73–1.6); 1.06 (0.81–1.48); 0.93 (0.72–1.19) and 1.09 (0.92–1.42), respectively (p<0.05). The IFN-score was high in 15 (75%) patients, low in 5 (15%). The use of RTM was accompanied by a statistically significant decrease in disease activity and the level of acute phase parameters (ESR, CRP) after 12 and 24 weeks of therapy (p<0.05). In the group as a whole, as well as in patients with a moderate effect of therapy or its absence, by the 24th week of treatment, an increase in the expression of RSAD2 (p<0.05) and a tendency to an increase in the IFN-score level (p=0.06) were observed.Conclusion. In patients with RA, an increased expression of ISH was found compared to healthy donors. An increase in the expression of RSAD2 and IFN-score is observed both in patients with a satisfactory effect of RTM and with no effect. The obtained results can be important for predicting the course of the disease and personalizing therapy.Цель исследования – оценить экспрессию интерферон-стимулированных генов (ИСГ) – интерфероновый (ИФН) «автограф» – у пациентов с ревматоидным артритом (РА) и ее динамику на фоне анти-В-клеточной терапии.Пациенты и методы. Обследовано 20 больных РА, получивших две инфузии биоаналога ритуксимаба (РТМ) Ацеллбия® в суммарной дозе 1200 мг. Для оценки ИФН-«автографа» были отобраны пять генов: IFI44L, MX1, IFIT1, RSAD2, EPSTI1. Экспрессию IFI44L и IFIT1 определить не удалось по техническим причинам и в дальнейшем анализе учитывали три гена – MX1, EPSTI1, RSAD2. ИФН-«автограф» был рассчитан как среднее значение экспрессии трех выбранных генов (ИФН-score).Результаты и обсуждение. Исходный уровень экспрессии MX1 – 11,48 (5,45–19,38), EPSTI1 – 12,83 (5,62–19,64), RSAD2 – 5,16 (2,73–10,4) и ИФН- score – 10,3 (5,18–17,12) у пациентов с РА были статистически значимо выше, чем у здоровых доноров: 1,26 (0,73–1,6); 1,06 (0,81–1,48); 0,93 (0,72–1,19) и 1,09 (0,92–1,42) соответственно (р<0,05). Показатель ИФН-score был высоким у 15 (75%) больных, низким – у 5 (15%). Применение РТМ сопровождалось статистически значимым снижением активности заболевания и уровня острофазовых показателей (СОЭ, СРБ) через 12 и 24 нед терапии (p<0,05). В группе в целом, а также у пациентов с умеренным эффектом терапии или его отсутствием к 24-й неделе лечения отмечались повышение экспрессии RSAD2 (p<0,05) и тенденция к повышению уровня ИФН-score (р=0,06).Заключение. У пациентов с РА выявлена повышенная экспрессия ИСГ по сравнению со здоровыми донорами. При удовлетворительном эффекте РТМ или его отсутствии наблюдается повышение экспрессии RSAD2 и ИФН-score. Полученные результаты могут иметь значение для прогнозирования течения заболевания и персонификации терапии

EFFECT OF TRANSPLANTATION OF IMMUNOCOMPETENT CELLS TREATED WITH CAFFEINE ON THE PARAMETERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY

It was demonstrated that in vitro treatment with caffeine splenocytes of mice (CBAxC57Bl / 6) F1 with a passive type of behavior in «open field» modifies the functional activity of these cells, manifested in changes in spontaneous and induced cytokine production; the intravenous injection of these cells is accompanied by modulation of the parameters of the motor and exploratory activity of recipients, the nature of which depends on the dose of caffeine. At the same time were shown some changes in the synthesis of cytokines by brain cells of mice-recipients. Possible mechanisms for modulating effect of transplanted immune cells on recipient's behavior were discussed