Phytoestrogens

Collectively, plants contain several different families of natural products among which are compounds with weak estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity toward mammals. These compounds, termed phytoestrogens, include certain isoflavonoids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. The best-studied dietary phytoestrogens are the soy isoflavones and the flaxseed lignans. Their perceived health beneficial properties extend beyond hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis to include cognitive function, cardiovascular disease, immunity and inflammation, and reproduction and fertility. In the future, metabolic engineering of plants could generate novel and exquisitely controlled dietary sources with which to better assess the potential health beneficial effects of phytoestrogens

Electronic structure of MgB2_2: X-ray emission and absorption studies

Measurements of x-ray emission and absorption spectra of the constituents of MgB$_2$ are presented. The results obtained are in good agreement with calculated x-ray spectra, with dipole matrix elements taken into account. The comparison of x-ray emission spectra of graphite, AlB$_2$, and MgB$_2$ in the binding energy scale supports the idea of charge transfer from $\sigma$ to $\pi$ bands, which creates holes at the top of the bonding $\sigma$ bands and drives the high-T$_c$Comment: final version as published in PR

Puumala Hantavirus Excretion Kinetics in Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

One-sentence summary for table of contents: Virus may be transmitted by saliva, urine, and feces, and saliva may play a role in transmission to humans

Dissociation between Mature Phenotype and Impaired Transmigration in Dendritic Cells from Heparanase-Deficient Mice

To reach the lymphatics, migrating dendritic cells (DCs) need to interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Heparanase, a mammalian endo-β-D-glucuronidase, specifically degrades heparan sulfate proteoglycans ubiquitously associated with the cell surface and ECM. The role of heparanase in the physiology of bone marrow-derived DCs was studied in mutant heparanase knock-out (Hpse-KO) mice. Immature DCs from Hpse-KO mice exhibited a more mature phenotype; however their transmigration was significantly delayed, but not completely abolished, most probably due to the observed upregulation of MMP-14 and CCR7. Despite their mature phenotype, uptake of beads was comparable and uptake of apoptotic cells was more efficient in DCs from Hpse-KO mice. Heparanase is an important enzyme for DC transmigration. Together with CCR7 and its ligands, and probably MMP-14, heparanase controls DC trafficking

Hantavirus infection in patients with fever of unknown origin and in small mammals in the Baikal region

Background. Hantavirus infections are one of the most important zoonotic diseases in the Russian Federation. However, the pathogenicity of Hantaviruses circulating in Siberia is still unknown. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of Hantavirus infection in patients with fever of unknown origin from Irkutsk region and adjacent territories. Materials and methods. Serum samples collected in 2016 from individuals with symptoms of health deterioration were screened by ELISA to investigate possible Hantavirus infection, in addition to tick-borne infections. Depending on date of tick bite specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis and Hantavirus were tested by ELISA or screened by PCR for tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis and monocytic erlychiosis RNA/DNA. Results. Out of 92 serum samples, 6.5 % were positive for hantavirus-specific antibodies, which is at least twice higher than the seroprevalence among healthy people in the Irkutsk region. IgM and IgM+IgG antibodies were found in 5.4 % of cases, while IgG antibodies - in 1.1 % of cases. The clinical symptoms among sero-positive patients were fever, skin lesion, fatigue syndrome, headache and lymphadenitis. IgM antibodies to borreliosis were found in two hantavirus sero-positive cases. Lung tissues from small mammals captured in 2016 were screened by ELISA for the presence of Hantavirus antigen. Hantaviral antigen was detected in 6.3 % of 48 samples. Conclusions. Thus, present and previous studies demonstrate existence of natural foci of Hantavirus infections in addition to tick-born infections in the territory of the Irkutsk region