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.