Domain Structure, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polycaprolactone-Based Multiblock Polyurethane-Ureas under Control of Hard and Soft Segment Lengths.

A series of multiblock polyurethane-ureas (PUU) based on polycaprolactone diol (PCL) with a molecular mass of 530 or 2000 g/mol, as well as hard segments of different lengths and structures, were synthesized by the step-growth polymerization method. The chemical structure of the synthesized multiblock copolymers was confirmed by IR- and NMR-spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were used to determine the relaxation and phase transition temperatures for the entire series of the obtained PUU.

[Novel BRCA1 gene mutations in breast cancer patients from St. Petersburg].

Screening of patients with familial breast cancer from St. Petersburg for BRCA1 gene mutations resulted in identification of three mutations (414del3, 276delA, and A622V) and two polymorphisms (P871L and S1436S). Mutations 4146del3 and 276delA are novel, never previously described elsewhere.

[On clinical manifestations of rotavirus-related gastroenteritis and possible links with its viral phoretype].

The results are presented of the study of rotavirus gastroenteritis course in 45 patients (23 children and 22 adults) with different phoretypes. Phoretypical heterogeneity of rotavirus population was discovered among which the "long" phoretype prevailed. Rotavirus infection ran with diverse clinical symptoms: mild, moderate and severe.