Microflora in the basal strata at Antarctic ice core above the Vostok lake.

The microbiological investigations of the Antarctic ice core at the Vostok station become especially important in connection with the discovery of an subglacial lake in this region. This lake is considered by the world-wide scientific community to be an important object for searching for relict forms of life on the Earth and also as a model for solving a number of problems of exobiology--for instance for development of methods to penetrate into underice sea at Europe--Jupiter's satellite. For the first time the Antarctic ice core samples were taken from the horizons which correspond to the basal zone (3534-3541 m) and to the accreation ice zone (3555-3611 m) above the subglacial lake Vostok.

Constraints on hydrothermal processes and water exchange in Lake Vostok from helium isotopes.

Lake Vostok, the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica, is covered by the East Antarctic ice sheet, which varies in thickness between 3,750 and 4,100 m (ref. 1). At a depth of 3,539 m in the drill hole at Vostok station, sharp changes in stable isotopes and the gas content of the ice delineate the boundary between glacier ice and ice accreted through re-freezing of lake water.

More than 200 meters of lake ice above subglacial Lake Vostok, Antarctica.

Isotope studies show that the Vostok ice core consists of ice refrozen from Lake Vostok water, from 3539 meters below the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet to its bottom at about 3750 meters. Additional evidence comes from the total gas content, crystal size, and electrical conductivity of the ice. The Vostok site is a likely place for water freezing at the lake-ice interface, because this interface occurs at a higher level here than anywhere else above the lake.

Refractive-index measurements of natural air-hydrate crystals in an Antarctic ice sheet.

The refractive index of air-hydrate crystals found in a deep Antarctic ice sheet was measured for the first time, as far as we know, using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. A small difference between the refractive indices of the air-hydrate crystals and the matrix ice crystal was measured by the fringe-shift method. It was found that the refractive indices of all air-hydrate crystals were larger than those of ice, and the average difference was 5.

[The pharmacological properties of karazedin].

The original agent 1,2,3,4,5,5a,6,10b-octahydroazepino-[4,5-b]indole (carazedine), an analog of the highly active antipsychotic drug carbidine, was synthesized. This agent was found to have various psychotropic activities and to be superior to carbidine, as shown by a number of tests, and combine properties typical of neuroleptics and tranquilizers. The toxicity of carazedine and carbidine was equal.

[The withdrawal syndrome and lipid peroxidation during the chronic administration of narcotic analgesics to rats].

Diverse behavioral disorders and the intensity of lipid peroxidation (LPO) of biological membranes were estimated in different rat tissues after the 7-day administration and subsequent withdrawal of morphine or promedol. 24 hours after the withdrawal of the analgetics the demonstrated a high initial level of motor activity in the open field. Naloxone, an antagonist of opiate receptors, potentiated motor activity and the intensity of withdrawal syndrome (by 160%) in rats with morphine rather than promedol dependence.

[The "phenomenon of ethanol preference"].

The problem of using the "phenomenon of ethanol preference" under conditions of a free choice between ethanol and water as a behavioural model of alcoholism is discussed. The methodical aspects of the model are considered: the regimen of the animals' keeping, the criteria of preference, the concentrations of ethanol solutions, the schedule of presentation of the solutions. There was shown the principal similarity between the changes in the behaviour and biological parameters of the animals preferring ethanol and the changes observed in the man suffering from chronic alcoholism.

[Feasibility of applying pattern recognition techniques in psychopharmacology].

The necessity to consider the effect of psychotropic agents on the human organism as on the integral system interrelated with the environment is grounded. The need of applying the pattern recognition theory techniques which allow to analyze the integral state of the organism is substantiated. An illustration of the analysis of a psychotropic agent cathinone by using these techniques is presented.

[Spatial-temporal structure of the organization of goal-directed behavior under the action of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol].

The effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) on the goal-directed behavior was studied by the pattern recognition theory methods on cats trained for a differentiated response, to structured visual stimuli. Administration of delta-9-THC was shown to cause noncoordination of certain neocortex regions as well as disagreement of temporal characteristics of the processes involved in the goal-directed behavior organization.

[Mechanism of the anti-alcohol action of fenazepam].

Experiments were performed on 64 albino male rats selected according to their ethanol preference. A long-term administration of ethanol produced a number of specific changes in the activity of the enzymes involved in metabolism of ethanol, lipid peroxidation, enzymes of metabolism of xenobiotics. At the continuous ethanol administration, phenazepam was found to normalize the activity of ethanol-metabolizing enzymes, both in vivo and in vitro.

[Experimental tests for detecting substances that cause pathological habituation].

The author describes methods for experimental testing of the ability of alcohol and drugs to induce pathological motivation. These methods are intended for testing barbiturates, tranquilizers, analgesics, hallucinogens and psychostimulants. As for ethanol, there is a possibility of screening "high risk groups".

[Effect of bromocriptine in experimental alcoholism in rats of both sexes].

It has been shown in experiments on intact rats that bromocriptin (1 mg/kg) produces opposite changes on the self-stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus: facilitates it in females and inhibits in males, whereas administered in a dose of 10 mg/kg inhibits it in animals of both sexes. It has been established in experiments on rats preferring ethanol to water that the drug in a dose of 1 mg/kg reduces the degree of ethanol preference only in females while the dose of ethanol consumption declines in animals of both sexes. Besides, bromocriptin decreases the rate of ethanol elimination from blood (3-fold in females, and 1.

A study of the mediator spectrum of delta-9 tetrahydrocanabinol effects on cerebral bioelectric activity.

Defense conditioning in cats with simultaneous recording of bioelectric activity was used to show that serotonin-negative and dopamine-positive substances normalize delta-9 THC-elicited dissimilarity of amplitudinal and temporal parameters of evoked potentials in visual associative and somatosensoric zones II of the cerebral cortex. It was also found that serotoninergic substances affect both primary and secondary waves of evoked potentials while dopaminergic substances influence only late waves.

[The significance of the central regulation of sexual behavior in experimental alcoholism in male white rats].

It has been shown that ethanol consumption by rats with a decreased activity of the brain zones, which regulate sexual behavior, declines but alcoholic motivation increases on destruction of the brain zones responsible for feeding behavior.

[Aspects of the mediator nature of the effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on evoked potentials of the cerebral cortex].

It has been shown on cats with the method of the conditional defensive reflexes and parallel recording of the bioelectric activity that the serotonin-negative and dopamine-positive substances restore the similarity of the amplitude-temporary parameters of evoked potentials in the visual, associative and the second comatosencory fields of the brain cortex, disturbed by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol injection. It has been also demonstrated that the serotoninergic substances influence the action of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol both on the early and late waves of evoked potentials whereas the dopaminergic substances influence the drug action only on the late waves.

[Effect of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on cortical evoked potentials].

It has been shown on cats with the help of the registration of evoked potentials of the visual, somatosensory and associative areas of the brain cortex that delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in a dose of 1.5 mg/kg diminishes the amplitude of the primary responses in all the areas whereas in a dose of 3.5 mg/kg it influences both early and late components of evoked potentials interfering with their similarity in the definite areas of the brain cortex.

[Effect of testosterone on ethanol oxidation during chronic alcoholism in castrated rats].

It has been shown in non-alcoholized male rats that castration significantly and appreciably raises the level of endogenous ethanol. In chronic alcoholization of castrated and non-castrated rats, the rate of ethanol elimination (REE) is noticeably increased, with testosterone producing no essential effect on the REE. In the liver, alcohol dehydrogenase activity rises insignificantly under the effect of testosterone, whereas aldehyde dehydrogenase activity declines 30--100%.

[Mediator nature of the action of cathinone on animal behavior].

The influence of catinon on visual differentiation was studied in cat experiments by the methods of conditioned avoidance. It turned out that catinon (1 mg/kg) worsened the differentiation of both short and prolonged visual stimuli. These effects of catinon were potentiated when the serotoninergic system was activated and were weakened when the dopaminergic system was activated.

Mediator mechanisms of cathinone effects on animal behaviour.

The effect of cathinone on the visual differentiation of cats was investigated by the method of defense conditioned reflexes. It was found that cathinone decreases the differentiation of both the short-term and prolonged visual stimuli. These effects of cathinone increase when the serotoninergic system is activated and decrease under dopaminergic system activation.

[Monoaminergic component in the effect of D-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on conditioned reflex activity].

The involvement of monoaminergic system in the realization of the effect of D-9-hydrocannabinol on different parameters of the conditioned reflex was examined on cats. It appeared that the effect of D-9-cannabinol on the differentiation of long-term and short-term stimuli depends but to a different degree on the activity of both the serotoninergic and catecholaminergic systems. The effect of D-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on the rate of the performance of the conditioned reflex depends on the activity of the dopaminergic system.

[Features of the effects of apomorphine on rats of different sexes preferring ethyl alcohol].

The influence of apomorphine (1 mg/kg/day subcutaneously) on the behavior and some pharmacokinetic parameters of both male and female rats preferring ethanol to water was studied experimentally. Upon withdrawal of ethanol, apomorphine decreased the time of transmission to water consumption in the rats of both sexes and prevented a decline in the endogenous ethanol levels, the latter effect being especially pronounced in the female rats. Investigations on the "Animex" actograph showed an intensified response to apomorphine in rats preferring ethanol, with female rats displaying a greater change in the response.

[Characteristics of the formation of an ethanol preference in rats of both sexes].

A high level of initial alcoholic motivation in females is associated with a high metabolic rate as regards ethanol and a low one as regards acetaldehyde in the estrus. The diestrus period is little characteristic in this respect. A high level of alcoholic motivation in males is associated with a high metabolic rate of ethanol and a low one of acetaldehyde.