Virtual Herbarium ALTB: collection of vascular plants of the Altai Mountain Country.

Background: The herbarium of the South-Siberian Botanical Garden of Altai State University (ALTB) houses the largest collection of plants from the Altai Mountain Country (AMC), an area that extends across Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. The collection of ALTB includes more than 450,00 specimens, making it the seventh largest in Russia and the fourth largest amongst Russian university herbaria. Altai State University (ASU), the home of ALTB, is one of the most important centres of academic education and research in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

[Hydrogen peroxide--a marker for respiratory tract inflammation in patients with bronchial asthma].

Aim: To test H2O2 as a marker of respiratory tract inflammation in patients with bronchial asthma (BA).

Material And Methods: The study entered 70 patients (20 males and 50 females) with atopic asthma (AA) aged 18 to 62 years (mean age 32.6 years).

[Bronchial hyperreactivity to the inhalation of hypo- and hyperosmolar aerosols and its correction by halotherapy].

18 bronchial asthma (BA) patients (12 with mild and 6 with moderate disease) were examined before and after halotherapy (HT) for airways reactivity using provocative tests with ultrasonic inhalations of purified water (UIPW) and hypertonic salt solution (HSS). Bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) to UIPW and HSS before treatment occurred in 13 and 11 patients (72 and 69%, respectively). HT reduced BHR in 2/3 and 1/2 of the patients, respectively.

[The effect of disorders of thrombocyte functional activity on the microcirculatory status in the lungs and on external respiratory function in patients with aspirin-induced asthma].

Platelet aggregation, pulmonary microcirculation and external respiration were studied against clinical appearance of the disease in 20 patients with aspirin-sensitive asthma (ASA) and 10 asthmatics without aspirin intolerance. All ASA patients were found to exhibit higher intensity and rate of platelet aggregation induced by ATP and heparin. Capillary pulmonary circulation in them was decreased 2-fold compared to nonaspirin asthma patients.

[The characteristics of the lung microcirculation and external respiratory function in bronchial asthma patients with systemic arterial hypertension].

In 43 patients suffering from bronchial asthma, the data on patients with normal and high systemic arterial pressure were correlated on the basis of studying external respiratory function and pulmonary circulation. The differences are demonstrated as regards the intensity of obstruction, the ratio of changes in lung perfusion to bronchial patency, the response to berotec and the calcium antagonist perdipine.

[Stress and blood circulation in man].

This paper presents the results of studying stress effects on the heart, systemic circulation and cerebral circulation by various methods (ECG, Doppler technique, isotopes, etc). Patterns of circulation changes in response to mental stresses have been identified and variations in circulation regulation as a function of stress enhancement have been revealed. Cerebral circulation changes produced by heavy mental work under stressful conditions are described (increase of blood flow velocity in carotid arteries and of tone of cerebral arteries of large and medium caliber, change in reactivity of anastomoses between branches of the internal and external carotid arteries, patterns of increase and decrease of blood flow in the gray matter of the brain cortex).

[Effect of electrostimulation of the supraoptic region of the hypothalamus on lipid metabolism and the development of atherosclerosis].

A three-week electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic supraoptic zone in rabbits which were on atherogenic diet for 3 to 8 weeks accelerated and intensified the development of hypercholesterolemia and lipidosis of the coronary arteries, as well as the metabolic changes in the myocardial tissue. The latter changes were expressed in the reduction of the tissue noradrenaline level, diminution of the creatine phosphate content, and an increase of inorganic phosphorus and lactic acid.

[Ultrastructural changes in the rabbit aorta in early stages of experimental atherosclerosis].

First morphological (ultrastructural) signs of atherosclerotic changes in arteries have been shown to appear in the second week of keeping of rabbits on an atherogenic diet. They are manifested in the changes of "glycocalix" on the endothelium, disorders in the vessel wall permeability, distention and mucoid swelling of the subendothelial space, vacuolation of endothelial and smooth-muscle cells, and fragmentation of elastic fibers. The foamy cells appearing by 4 weeks of the experiment from the smooth-muscle cells migrating into the intima through fenestrations of the inner elastic membrane.

[Effect of acoustic stimulation on lipid metabolism, indices of the blood coagulation system and development of experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits].

The 14-day sound stimulation of healthy rabbits increases the level of unesterified fatty acids and the blood coagulability. Morphologically the hypertrophy of the heart coronary arteries and necrotic foci in the myocardium are revealed. In rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis subjected to sound stimulation during 14 and 28 days, in spite of a high level of lipids in the blood and hypercoagulatory shifts, the developing conditions aid to resorption of lipids from aortal plagues and coronary arteries.

[Development of the ideas of N. N. Anichkov at the present stage of our knowledge about atherosclerosis].

The article discusses the main elements of the infiltrative-combination theory of atherosclerosis, which was formulated and developed by N. N. Anichkov.