[On the mechanisms of stimulation and inhibition during germination of wheat seeds in extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields].

It has been shown that the effects of stimulation of germination of wheat seeds by electromagnetic field depend on the degree of membrane tension during imbibition of seeds in sucrose solutions. This provides further confirmation of the influence of electromagnetic fields on the release of proteins from the bound state on the membranes. The prolonged treatment with electromagnetic fields during the imbibition of seeds leads not only to the inhibition of germination of sprouts but also to a decrease in their germinability, which can be as strong as twofold for seeds with the initial low germinability.

[Characteristics of low frequency magnetic field effect on swelling of wheat seeds at various stages].

Low-frequency magnetic field treatment (50 Hz, 30 mT, 15 min) of wheat seeds with a 50% germination efficiency during imbibition at the stage of root formation leads to a statistically significant increase in the number of seeds having sprouts, a still greater increase in the number of seeds having roots, and to an increase in the length of sprouts compared with the control and the seeds treated several hours later. In the last case, an increase in the germinating capacity with a considerably lesser effect on the number of seeds with roots was also observed. Prolonged treatment with the field during the second day of imbibition decreased reliably the length of sprouts with a weaker influence on the number of seeds with sprouts and roots.

[Diffusion properties of water in the human crystalline lens during cataract development].

Normal and cataractal decapsulated lenses of man were studied by NMR method-spin echo to obtain information concerning efficient coefficients of self diffusion, times of spin-spin relaxation of water protons (T2) and water content in the lens (c) at 25 degrees C in the course of cataractogenesis. It has been found that the values T2 and c at 25 degrees C are much higher in the nuclei of completely turbid lenses than in the transparent ones; the self-diffusion coefficients in the turbid lenses were also higher. At -9 degrees C a significant decrease of the content of undestroyed by frost (bound) water was observed at the stage of mature cataract as compared to transparent lenses.