Contrast normalization affects response time-course of visual interneurons.

In natural environments, light intensities and visual contrasts vary widely, yet neurons have a limited response range for encoding them. Neurons accomplish that by flexibly adjusting their dynamic range to the statistics of the environment via contrast normalization. The effect of contrast normalization is usually measured as a reduction of neural signal amplitudes, but whether it influences response dynamics is unknown.

Investigation of Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance of Irradiated 12Cr Ferritic-Martensitic Stainless Steel in Supercritical Water Environment.

The supercritical water-cooled reactors (SWCR) belong to Generation IV of reactors. These reactors have a number of advantages over currently operating WWERs and PWRs. These advantages include higher thermal efficiency, a more simplified unit design, and the possibility of incorporating it into a closed fuel cycle.

Dynamic Signal Compression for Robust Motion Vision in Flies.

Sensory systems need to reliably extract information from highly variable natural signals. Flies, for instance, use optic flow to guide their course and are remarkably adept at estimating image velocity regardless of image statistics. Current circuit models, however, cannot account for this robustness.

[The molecular-genetic aspects of tubercular infection forecasting and immunotherapy].

In article is presented, the analysis of the data of the literature and own researches, concerning molecular-genetic mechanisms of antimycobacterial immunity infringements. The role of the factors defining features of a current and an outcome of a tubercular infection, namely of immunity system condition, feature of infecting microbic Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain biological properties (a genotype, a spectrum of drag sensitivity/resistance), influence of combined antitubercular chemotherapy is disc issed. The opinion is expressed that the given factors are necessary for taking into consideration for working out methodology the personalised preventive maintenance and correction of immunity infringements during pulmonary tuberculosis.

Adjuvant fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar) nutraceutical improves survival of high-risk skin melanoma patients: a randomized, pilot, phase II clinical study with a 7-year follow-up.

Objective: The fermented wheat germ extract (FWGE) nutraceutical (Avemar), manufactured under "good manufacturing practice" conditions and, fulfilling the self-affirmed "generally recognized as safe" status in the United States, has been approved as a "dietary food for special medical purposes for cancer patients" in Europe. In this paper, we report the adjuvant use of this nutraceutical in the treatment of high-risk skin melanoma patients.

Methods: In a randomized, pilot, phase II clinical trial, the efficacy of dacarbazine (DTIC)-based adjuvant chemotherapy on survival parameters of melanoma patients was compared to that of the same treatment supplemented with a 1-year long administration of FWGE.

[Immune pathology in pulmonary tuberculosis].

The data of modem literature and the results of original investigations on mechanisms of immunopathological alterations in tuberculosis infection are presented. The role of cellular and humoral parts of immunity in pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis is discussed and cytokine-mediated mechanisms of disorders in a specific immune response are analysed.

[The superficial architectonics of peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis].

Peripheral blood lymphocytes were electron microscopically studied in patients with disseminated drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis before and during specific antituberculous chemotherapy. There was a tendency for an increase in the count of lymphocytes with membranous morphostructural changes during the therapy, which was more clearly defined in the drug-resistant type of the infectious process. It is suggested that antituberculous drugs have a damaging effect on the membrane of immunocompetent blood cells.

[Dysregulation of cytokine production by mononuclear cells of peripheral blood in persistent infection with a virus of tick-borne encephalitis].

Tick-borne encephalitis is accompanied by dysregulation of cytokine production of mononuclear leucocytes of peripheral blood. The changes of production of IFN-r by mononuclear leucocytes of peripheral blood positively correlated with a degree of activity of pathological process and intensity of clinical symptoms of neuroninfection. On the contrary, secretion of IL-12 mononuclears directly correlated with virus persistence in the organism and does not depend on clinical presentation of the disease.

[Comparative assessment of the five-year results of surgical, combined, radiation and chemoradiotherapy in laryngeal cancer (T3N0M0)].

Four modalities of specific treatment for laryngeal cancer were compared in 158 patients. Five-year survival after chemoradiotherapy using cisplatin, 5-FU and bleomycin plus irradiation (65-70 Gy) was 87% versus 69.7; 66.

[Functional status of peripheral blood monocyte in patients with Ixodes tick-borne borreliosis accompanied by opisthorchiasis].

The characteristics of the functional status of peripheral blood monocytes/macrophages in patients with Ixodes tick-borne acute borreliosis accompanied by opisthorchiasis invasion were studied. The study revealed a decrease in the phagocytic activity of monocytes and in the level of expression of cell receptors Fcgamma with the expression of cell receptors C3beta being normal.

[Peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes in patients with drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis].

The authors studied functional characteristics of mononuclear leucocytes in patients with drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis. The study found decrease of the number of C3b- and Fcchi-receptorpositive monocytes and increase of their saturation activity in both categories of pulmonary tuberculosis before and after antituberculous therapy. The study revealed increase of interferons alpha and chi production and, at the same time, decrease of tumor necrosis factor alpha, which was more prominent in cases of drug-sensitive tuberculosis, and depression of interleukin 2 secretion, more prominent during chemotherapy in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

[Functional activity of phagocyte blood cells in pulmonary tuberculosis].

The characteristics of the functional activity of phagocyte blood cells in patients with destructive pulmonary tuberculosis caused by medicinal sensitive and medicinal resistant infective agents were studied. In the process of pulmonary tuberculosis, irrespective of the medicinal sensitivity of infective agents before and during treatment, a decrease in the phagocytic activity of neutrophil granulocytes and the level of the expression of Fcgamma- and C3b-receptors on monocytes with a simultaneous increase in the spontaneous production of oxygen metabolites in neutophils and a rise in the adsorptive capacity of monocytic cells were observed.

Cytogenetic disorders in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis.

An appreciable increase in the number of aberrant lymphocytes was detected in the peripheral blood of patients with febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). This increase peaked during week 2 of the infectious process and was paralleled by a decrease in the count of natural killer cells. By the end of the acute period of neuroinfection the number of cells with structural chromosome aberrations decreased, but still surpassed the control (donor blood).

Structural and functional characteristics of lymphocytes in chronic carriers of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Study of the surface phenotype, structure of plasma membrane, and activity of DNA repair system in peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with different clinical forms of tick-borne encephalitis associated with long persistence of the virus revealed a pronounced imbalance between lymphocyte subpopulations, increased microviscosity of the plasma membrane lipid phase, and decreased activity of the DNA repair system in lymphocytes.

Phagocytic functions of the blood in patients with acute tick-borne encephalitis.

We studied metabolic and functional activity of peripheral blood phagocytes from patients with febrile tick-borne encephalitis. Phagocytic activity of neutrophils determining nonspecific resistance of the organism progressively increased, while metabolic activity decreased. Secretion of nitric oxide by peripheral blood mononuclear phagocytes was suppressed, while phagocytic functions of these cells remained unchanged.

[Treatment of local Hodgkin's disease with massive mediastinal involvement].

Aim: To define the scope of combined therapy in patients having local Hodgkin's disease (LHD) with massive mediastinal lesion.

Material And Methods: From 1980 to 1997 the treatment was given to 75 LHD patients with massive lesion of the mediastinum (mediastinal-thoracic index, MTI, > or = 0.33).

[The late results of the combined therapy of patients in 2nd-stage lymphogranulomatosis].

Aim: To define the scope of combined therapy according to prognostic factors in patients with Hodgkin's disease state II.

Materials And Methods: 98 patients with favorable and unfavorable Hodgkin's disease (HD) prognosis according to EORTC criteria (41 and 57 of group 1 and 2, respectively) entered the study. Unfavorable factors were: mixed HD variant and lymphoid depletion, ESR above 50 mm/h in stage A and 30 mm/h in stage B, involvement of more than 3 groups of lymph nodes, age over 40.

Allelic imbalance and instability of microsatellite loci on chromosome 1p in human non-small-cell lung cancer.

The mapping of allelic loss on the short arm of chromosome 1 has been performed in non-small-cell lung cancer. We used a set of 11 microsatellite loci spanning 1p to examine the frequency of allelic imbalance in a panel of 58 tumours. Fifty-one of 58 (87.

[The comparative evaluation of the efficacy of different therapeutic plans in acute nonlymphocytic leukemias].

78 previously untreated patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) were assigned to cytosar-anthracyclines therapeutic programs: 29 (group I) received daunorubicin and AraC, 18 (group II) aclacinomycin A and AraC, 12 (group III) the scheme 3 + 7 with 12 mg/m2 novantron instead of daunorubicin, 19 (group IV) the scheme 3 + 7 with 12 mg/m2 idarubicin and cytosar. Groups I-III comprised both prognostically favorable and unfavorable ANLL variants, group 4 patients had for the most part unfavorable prognosis (MO-M3). A mean age of the patients was 41-42.

[The combined therapy of stage-II lymphogranulomatosis: the effect of splenectomy and the time period for achieving full remission on treatment efficacy].

In 1982-1986, 72 patients with stage II lymphogranulomatosis received combined treatment according to the following program: 3 cycles of polychemotherapy in accordance with the CVPP scheme plus radiation of all the lymphatic collectors above the diaphragm up to the total radiation dose 35 Gy plus 3 cycles according to the CVPP. Splenectomy was provided to 45 patients; spleen impairment was revealed in 13. The median observation period reached 67 months.

[Ph'-positive acute leukemia].

A comparative study of Ph'-positive and Ph'-negative blast cells of patients with acute leukemia (12 and 63, respectively) has revealed certain differences between them: Ph'-positive elements were more often characterized by a mixed immunological phenotype, they could grow in agar culture. The therapy of Ph'-positive leukemia was less effective than that of Ph'-negative disease.

[Prognostic significance of histologic signs in squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the trunk and extremities].

One hundred sixteen cases of squamous cell skin cancer were studied: 83 male and 33 female patients, with their age range being 21-73 yr (mean 50.1 +/- 4.3 yr.