Foreign Policy Interests of the Russian Federation in Central Asia

This work is devoted to the analysis of the evolution priorities and features of the policy declared by Russia in relation to the CIS countries, in particular to the countries of the Central Asian region. Regional policy is important from the viewpoint of building the relationship of a state with a certain region for the realization of its national interests. The article was written using general scientific research methods and methods of political analysis. As a result of the study, the authors concluded that the countries of the Central Asian region occupy a significant place in the Russia’s foreign policy, but there is no clear strategy in relation to the countries of the analyzed region. As for the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy in the countries of Central Asia, they directly depend on the growing importance of the region for the key powers of the world community, especially in terms of energy and security

Morphological and functional criteria for the effectiveness of recreational activities in children

Objective. The study aimed to perform a comprehensive morphofunctional assessment of the effectiveness of recreational activities in children aged 9–12 years in the summer of 2019.Materials and methods. The study was conducted by the “Problem scientific laboratory of physical methods of diagnosis and treatment” of RostGMU in the children’s health and recreation camp “Mir” (Krasnyi Desant village, Gulf of Taganrog). Procedures and time of the study: somatometry, bioimpedance analysis, сardiointervalography, stabilometrics on the 2nd day of stay and 2.5 weeks after. Two groups were formed: Group I included overweight children (OW), n = 15 (boys, n = 9; girls, n = 6); Group II included children with normal physical development (NPD), n = 37 (boys, n = 17; girls, n = 20). The children received a non-drug complex of camp resource provision for 3 weeks.Results. Health measures did not lead to significant changes in the somatometric parameters. According to the results of the сardiointerval recording, an authentic increase in the variational range and vegetative rhythm index was found in children with NPD, which indicates an increase in the parasympathetic activity of regulation. The stress index decreased by 30% in the case of NPD, and by 6% in the case of OW. Data from the stabilometric “Balls” simulator showed that after the recovery, the regulation of postural control was optimized, and decision-making processes were accelerated, especially in children with NPD.Conclusion. The study showed that in order to assess the effectiveness of recreational activities, along with “mandatory” methods, it is advisable to use functional methods such as cardiointervalography and stabilometrics, which can be recommended for use in health and rehabilitation institutions to assess the adaptive capabilities of the organism

Risk factors for anemia in newborns

The objective was to assess clinical and anamnestic indicators and characteristics of blood erythrocytes in newborns according to the severity of anemia. Materials and methods: we examined the 65 case records of newborns with anemia who received medical treatment in pathology department of Rostov Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics from November, 2015 to March, 2016. All newborns were divided into 3 groups depending on the severity of anemia: I group included 40 newborns with mild case of anemia, II group – 8 infants with medium-heavy anemia, III group – 17 newborns with heavy extent of disease. Results. The most common risk factors of severe anemia on the distaff side are obesity (35.3%), anemia (100%), threatened miscarriage (65,%), cytomegalovirus infection (41%), gestational diabetes (or 41.2%). Conclusion: The risk factors of anemia in newborns are unfavorable for the antenatal period complicated by anemia, threatened miscarriage, gestational diabetes mellitus, cytomegalovirus infection, presence of respiratory distress syndrome, cerebral ischemia II degree in combination with hemolytic disease of the newborn

THE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY - A NEW VIEW ON THE PROBLEM OF AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA

Purpose: To investigate the state of autonomic nervous system in patients with asthma during the period of both aggravation and remission of the disease.Materials and Methods: 121 patients are examined in the study (81 during the period of an exacerbation of a disease and 40 during the remission). The study of autonomic nervous system state was performed by using cardioanalizator «ANKAR-131».Results: According to the spectral analysis of heart rate variability in children of both groups the predominance of slow waves II order were noted in spectrogram, it testifying to increase of humoral-metabolic effects. The VLF waves made 2700,275±248,35мс2 values spectral power averaged in children during the period of remission of the disease. The vagosympathetic balance factor (LF/ HF) in 33,3% of patients experiencing an attack of asthma and in 42,5% of patients during the remission of the disease is greater than 2,0, it indicating activation of sympathetic nervous system.Summary: Analyzing the data one can say that the findings of the spectral analysis of heart rate variability in children with asthma are early markers of abnormal autonomic regulation

A case of hyperplasia of the adrenal cortex in the newborn child

Clinical observation of a hyperplasia of the adrenal cortex in the newborn is presented. Main feature of this observation is the complicated course of this disease in the newborn against hypoxemic defeat of the central nervous system and neonatal jaundice. Now treatment of this congenital disease has to begin with the first week of life and includes complete hormonal and infusion therapy. In this observation child’s clinical improvement is noted

A Gammaherpesvirus Complement Regulatory Protein Promotes Initiation of Infection by Activation of Protein Kinase Akt/PKB

BACKGROUND: Viruses have evolved to evade the host's complement system. The open reading frames 4 (ORF4) of gammaherpesviruses encode homologs of regulators of complement activation (RCA) proteins, which inhibit complement activation at the level of C3 and C4 deposition. Besides complement regulation, these proteins are involved in heparan sulfate and glycosaminoglycan binding, and in case of MHV-68, also in viral DNA synthesis in macrophages. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we made use of MHV-68 to study the role of ORF4 during infection of fibroblasts. While attachment and penetration of virions lacking the RCA protein were not affected, we observed a delayed delivery of the viral genome to the nucleus of infected cells. Analysis of the phosphorylation status of a variety of kinases revealed a significant reduction in phosphorylation of the protein kinase Akt in cells infected with ORF4 mutant virus, when compared to cells infected with wt virus. Consistent with a role of Akt activation in initial stages of infection, inhibition of Akt signaling in wt virus infected cells resulted in a phenotype resembling the phenotype of the ORF4 mutant virus, and activation of Akt by addition of insulin partially reversed the phenotype of the ORF4 mutant virus. Importantly, the homologous ORF4 of KSHV was able to rescue the phenotype of the MHV-68 ORF4 mutant, indicating that ORF4 is functionally conserved and that ORF4 of KSHV might have a similar function in infection initiation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In summary, our studies demonstrate that ORF4 contributes to efficient infection by activation of the protein kinase Akt and thus reveal a novel function of a gammaherpesvirus RCA protein

Epstein-Barr Virus BGLF4 Kinase Retards Cellular S-Phase Progression and Induces Chromosomal Abnormality

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) induces an uncoordinated S-phase-like cellular environment coupled with multiple prophase-like events in cells replicating the virus. The EBV encoded Ser/Thr kinase BGLF4 has been shown to induce premature chromosome condensation through activation of condensin and topoisomerase II and reorganization of the nuclear lamina to facilitate the nuclear egress of nucleocapsids in a pathway mimicking Cdk1. However, the observation that RB is hyperphosphorylated in the presence of BGLF4 raised the possibility that BGLF4 may have a Cdk2-like activity to promote S-phase progression. Here, we investigated the regulatory effects of BGLF4 on cell cycle progression and found that S-phase progression and DNA synthesis were interrupted by BGLF4 in mammalian cells. Expression of BGLF4 did not compensate Cdk1 defects for DNA replication in S. cerevisiae. Using time-lapse microscopy, we found the fate of individual HeLa cells was determined by the expression level of BGLF4. In addition to slight cell growth retardation, BGLF4 elicits abnormal chromosomal structure and micronucleus formation in 293 and NCP-TW01 cells. In Saos-2 cells, BGLF4 induced the hyperphosphorylation of co-transfected RB, while E2F1 was not released from RB-E2F1 complexes. The E2F1 regulated activities of the cyclin D1 and ZBRK1 promoters were suppressed by BGLF4 in a dose dependent manner. Detection with phosphoamino acid specific antibodies revealed that, in addition to Ser780, phosphorylation of the DNA damage-responsive Ser612 on RB was enhanced by BGLF4. Taken together, our study indicates that BGLF4 may directly or indirectly induce a DNA damage signal that eventually interferes with host DNA synthesis and delays S-phase progression

An E2F1-Mediated DNA Damage Response Contributes to the Replication of Human Cytomegalovirus

DNA damage resulting from intrinsic or extrinsic sources activates DNA damage responses (DDRs) centered on protein kinase signaling cascades. The usual consequences of inducing DDRs include the activation of cell cycle checkpoints together with repair of the damaged DNA or induction of apoptosis. Many DNA viruses elicit host DDRs during infection and some viruses require the DDR for efficient replication. However, the mechanism by which DDRs are activated by viral infection is poorly understood. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection induces a DDR centered on the activation of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein kinase. Here we show that HCMV replication is compromised in cells with inactivated or depleted ATM and that ATM is essential for the host DDR early during infection. Likewise, a downstream target of ATM phosphorylation, H2AX, also contributes to viral replication. The ATM-dependent DDR is detected as discrete, nuclear γH2AX foci early in infection and can be activated by IE proteins. By 24 hpi, γH2AX is observed primarily in HCMV DNA replication compartments. We identified a role for the E2F1 transcription factor in mediating this DDR and viral replication. E2F1, but not E2F2 or E2F3, promotes the accumulation of γH2AX during HCMV infection or IE protein expression. Moreover, E2F1 expression, but not the expression of E2F2 or E2F3, is required for efficient HCMV replication. These results reveal a novel role for E2F1 in mediating an ATM-dependent DDR that contributes to viral replication. Given that E2F activity is often deregulated by infection with DNA viruses, these observations raise the possibility that an E2F1-mediated mechanism of DDR activation may be conserved among DNA viruses

Global mRNA Degradation during Lytic Gammaherpesvirus Infection Contributes to Establishment of Viral Latency

During a lytic gammaherpesvirus infection, host gene expression is severely restricted by the global degradation and altered 3′ end processing of mRNA. This host shutoff phenotype is orchestrated by the viral SOX protein, yet its functional significance to the viral lifecycle has not been elucidated, in part due to the multifunctional nature of SOX. Using an unbiased mutagenesis screen of the murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) SOX homolog, we isolated a single amino acid point mutant that is selectively defective in host shutoff activity. Incorporation of this mutation into MHV68 yielded a virus with significantly reduced capacity for mRNA turnover. Unexpectedly, the MHV68 mutant showed little defect during the acute replication phase in the mouse lung. Instead, the virus exhibited attenuation at later stages of in vivo infections suggestive of defects in both trafficking and latency establishment. Specifically, mice intranasally infected with the host shutoff mutant accumulated to lower levels at 10 days post infection in the lymph nodes, failed to develop splenomegaly, and exhibited reduced viral DNA levels and a lower frequency of latently infected splenocytes. Decreased latency establishment was also observed upon infection via the intraperitoneal route. These results highlight for the first time the importance of global mRNA degradation during a gammaherpesvirus infection and link an exclusively lytic phenomenon with downstream latency establishment