Auditory Cortex Responses to Clicks and Sensory Modulation Difficulties in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Auditory sensory modulation difficulties are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and may stem from a faulty arousal system that compromises the ability to regulate an optimal response. To study neurophysiological correlates of the sensory modulation difficulties, we recorded magnetic field responses to clicks in 14 ASD and 15 typically developing (TD) children. We further analyzed the P100m, which is the most prominent component of the auditory magnetic field response in children and may reflect preattentive arousal processes. The P100m was rightward lateralized in the TD, but not in the ASD children, who showed a tendency toward P100m reduction in the right hemisphere (RH). The atypical P100m lateralization in the ASD subjects was associated with greater severity of sensory abnormalities assessed by Short Sensory Profile, as well as with auditory hypersensitivity during the first two years of life. The absence of right-hemispheric predominance of the P100m and a tendency for its right-hemispheric reduction in the ASD children suggests disturbance of the RH ascending reticular brainstem pathways and/or their thalamic and cortical projections, which in turn may contribute to abnormal arousal and attention. The correlation of sensory abnormalities with atypical, more leftward, P100m lateralization suggests that reduced preattentive processing in the right hemisphere and/or its shift to the left hemisphere may contribute to abnormal sensory behavior in ASD

Arc/Arg3.1 expression in the brain tissues during the learning process in Alzheimer's disease animal models

Introduction. Arc/Arg3.1 is a common marker of neuronal activation for learning and memorizing. Some experimental data show the Arc/Arg3.1 expression in the post-mitotic neurons of the neurogenic niches. At the same time, we still have to understand the importance of such an expression for neurogenesis induced by the learning or memorizing processes, in health and in disease. Objective: to evaluate the changes in Arc/Arg3.1 expression in the post-mitotic neurons and to assess the proliferative activity of the neurogenic niche cells in Alzheimer's disease animal models. Materials and methods. We divided the C57Bl/6В mice into 2 groups: experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15). The experimental group were injected with the amyloid- oligomers 2535 in their CA1 hippocampal region while the control mice received normal saline injections in the same region. Passive Avoidance Test (PAT) was used to assess the cognitive functions from the day 9 after the intervention. One hour after each test session we collected the samples of brain tissues to immunohistochemically assess them for the Arc/Arg3.1 expression and PCNA cell proliferation marker. Results. At day 11 the count of Arc/Arg3.1+NeuN+ cells in the subgranular zone had significantly increased. In animal neurodegeneration models the 1st and 2nd PAT sessions were associated with a significant increase in Arc/Arg3.1+NeuN+ cells, although by the day 11 their count significantly decreased. The count of Arc/Arg3.1+ cells in the subventricular and subgranular zones had increased after the 3rd PAT session in the control group while in Alzheimer's disease animal models this was observed only after the 2nd PAT session. Preserved Arc/Arg3.1 expression in the subventricular zone is associated with the increased PCNA cell prolifera- tion marker expression. At the same time, the toxic effect of the amyloid- oligomers suppressed the cells' proliferative activity in the subgranular zone at day 9. Conclusions. Despite the toxic effect of the amyloid- oligomers 2535, the post-mitotic neurons of the neurogenic niches retained the ability to express Arc/Arg3.1 in vivo. The obtained results show a transient increase in sensitivity of the post-mitotic neurons of the neurogenic niches for the learning stimuli in the early stages of the Alzheimer-type neurodegeneration

Using E-Learning Tools to Enhance Students- Mathematicians’ Competences in the Context of International Academic Mobility Programmes

Introduction. The article is concerned with the use of special electronic teaching tools to increase the students’ understanding of the subject and adaptation to the professional language environment of the host country, taking into account the mathematical education. Our purpose is to develop a methodology of multilingual support of mathematical courses in the host country to improve the effectiveness of students’ academic mobility using e-learning tools. Materials and Methods. The basis of the research was methods of system analysis and descriptive and analytical methods, primarily experimental. To identify advantages of the proposed approach the methods of empirical research were used (observation and comparison). To prove the efficiency, classical methods of measurement were used. Results. We analyzed the existing electronic learning environments and defined an e-learning environment Math-Bridge that allows for creating mathematical courses in several languages in parallel. For example, the e-training course “Optimization Methods” was developed in three languages for training Russian-speaking Master programme students. The comparative analysis of the target and control student’s groups showed that 100 % of the students in the target group achieved an excellent level of mastering competencies, while the control group has only 75 %. For the control group, the degree of motivation to mathematical studying has not virtually changed (increase by 0,86 %). In the target group the level of student interest to the mathematics increased from 0,9 % to 8,9 % (mean 2.21 %). Discussion and Conclusion. The results described in the article will be useful for the staff of international departments, administrations and deans, as well as teachers of those universities that participate in the students’ international academic mobility programmes

On existence of solution in Rn\mathbb{R}^n of stochastic differential inclusions with current velocities in the presence of approximations with uniformly bounded first partial derivatives

Notion of mean derivatives was introduced by Edward Nelson for the needs of stochastic mechanics (a version of quantum mechanics). Nelson introduced forward and backward mean derivatives while only their half-sum, symmetric mean derivative called current velocity, is a direct analog of ordinary velocity for deterministic processes. Another mean derivative called quadratic, was introduced by Yuri E. Gliklikh and Svetlana V. Azarina. It gives information on the diffusion coefficient of the process and using Nelson's and quadratic mean derivatives together, one can in principle recover the process from its mean derivatives. Since the current velocities are natural analogs of ordinary velocities of deterministic processes, investigation of equations and especially inclusions with current velocities is very much important for applications since there are a lot of models of various physical, economical etc. processes based on such equations and inclusions. Existence of solution theorems are obtained for stochastic differential inclusions given in terms of the so-called current velocities (symmetric mean derivatives, a direct analogs of ordinary velocity of deterministic systems) and quadratic mean derivatives (giving information on the diffusion coefficient) on $\mathbb{R}^n$. Right-hand sides in both the current velocity part and the quadratic part are set-valued but satisfy some natural conditions

Mitochondria-Targeted Antioxidants as Potential Therapy for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury

The aim of this article is to review the publications describing the use of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant therapy after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Recent works demonstrated that mitochondria-targeted antioxidants are very effective in reducing the negative effects associated with the development of secondary damage caused by TBI. Using various animal models of TBI, mitochondria-targeted antioxidants were shown to prevent cardiolipin oxidation in the brain and neuronal death, as well as to markedly reduce behavioral deficits and cortical lesion volume, brain water content, and DNA damage. In the future, not only a more detailed study of the mechanisms of action of various types of such antioxidants needs to be conducted, but also their therapeutic values and toxicological properties are to be determined. Moreover, the optimal therapeutic effect needs to be achieved in the shortest time possible from the onset of damage to the nervous tissue, since secondary brain damage in humans can develop for a long time, days and even months, depending on the severity of the damage

Thidiazuron-induced formation of strawberry microshoots on different nutrient media

The present study was aimed to improve in vitro shoot proliferation of octoploid strawberry cultivar ‘Solnechnaya polyanka’ on different nutrient media (MS, B5 or MS+B5), supplemented with various concentrations (2.0, 4.0, 8.0 ȝM) of thidiazuron (TDZ). The best regeneration frequency (100%) with the highest rate of strawberry axillary shoot proliferation (14.1 ± 1.24 shoots per explant) and maximum shoot length (1.92 ± 0.04 cm) were achieved using precultivation of explants for 3 days on induction media B5 supplemented with 4.0 ȝM TDZ followed by cultivation of regenerants on hormone-free media B5 for 6 weeks

Study of vertical electrical resistance changes in reservoir beds of Tournaisian oil deposits

The article proposes a method for rapid assessment of the initial position of oil-water contacts, oxidized oil zones, transition zones, zones of high and decreasing resistance in the Lower Carboniferous Tournaisian oil deposits at one of the oilfields of the Republic of Tatarstan. As initial data, the values of electrical resistivity of effective interlayers from the catalog of geological and geophysical data, determined from induction logging curves, were used. Well log data for more than 200 wells drilled in elevation areas were used in analysis. The change in the electrical properties of deposits vertically is considered using the average resistivity values of effective interlayers averaged over all wells. Conclusions are based on the results of the done work: according to the resistivity values in massive carbonate deposits of the Tournaisian age, it is possible to distinguish various zones of oil saturation along the vertical; initial oil saturation does not grow exponentially, as in the Leverett function, but linearly in each zone

An innovative approach to ex vitro rooting and acclimatization of Fragaria × ananassa Duch. microshoots using а biogenic silica- and green-tea-catechin-based mechanocomposite

A new approach for rapid ex vitro rooting and acclimatization of Fragaria × ananassa micropropagated plantlets of two cultivars (“Alpha” and “Festivalnaya”) has been developed using a mechanocomposite based on biogenic silica and green-tea catechins. Two different mechanocomposite treatments were studied: dipping the cut ends of microshoots in the mechanocomposite powder (the dry dip method) and single watering with solutions at concentrations of 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 g L⁻¹. These variants were compared with pulse treatment of microplants with 30 mg L⁻¹ indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for 4 h and a control group of microshoots that were moistened with hormone-free ¼-strength MS medium. The frequencies of ex vitro rooting at the end of the acclimatization period (30 d) varied from 24.8 to 99.7%. The dry dip treatment was best (rooting frequency about 100%) with up to 7.15 ± 0.54-cm root length, and 6.10 ± 0.31 roots per plantlet. Moreover, this study showed that the growth-stimulating effect of this mechanocomposite treatment on root formation resulted in increased rosette height, leaf number, leaf area, and dry weight of aerial parts. Histological analysis of the leaf blades revealed decreased mesophyll thickness of microshoots treated with the mechanocomposite (up to 88.77 ± 2.95 vs. 111.51 ± 3.56 μm for the control). Morphometric analysis of scanning electron microscopy data showed that mechanocomposite treatments led to increased stomata density and stomata length. These structural changes led to normalization of the water regime and indicated successful acclimatization. The combination of ex vitro rooting and acclimatization reduced the procedure time by 4 wk, and may be used for commercial strawberry micropropagation

Wood Quality along the Trunk Height of Birch and Aspen Growing in the Restoring Forests of Central Russia

The structure of forests has changed with an increase in soft-wooded broadleaved species over the past decade. The demand for hard-wooded broadleaved species can be met by replacing them with compressed wood of soft-wooded broadleaved species. Existing compressed wood technologies do not fully take into account the density variations that exist along the height of a tree trunk. In this study, we examined the variability of birch and aspen microstructures along the height of the trunk, including vessels per square millimeter and the diameter (tangential and radial) of the vessel lumina. The research was carried out on aspen and birch species growing in Central Russia. The vessels per square millimeter in both species increased from the base to the top of the trunk and their diameters decreased from the base to the top of the trunk. Birch demonstrated greater changes in these values than aspen. There was a strong relationship between the diameter of the vessel lumina and the trunk height. A decrease in the density of the stemwood from the base to the top of the trunk was caused by an increase in the vessels per square millimeter. These results affected the density of the stemwood and determined the degree of compression as well as the initial size of the blanks required to obtain material with uniform quality indicators, regardless of the source location of the raw materials in the tree trunk