Development of spatial orientation during pilot training

The problem of spatial orientation of pilots flying high-altitude aircraft is in the focus of present-day aviation medicine because of a growing number of accidents in the air. One of the productive lines of research is to study spatial orientation in terms of active formation and maintenance of its imagery in a complex environment. However investigators usually emphasize the role of visual (instrumental) information in the image construction, almost ignoring the sensorimotor component of spatial orientation. The theoretical analysis of the process of spatial orientation has facilitated the development of the concept assuming that the pattern of space perception changes with growing professional experience. The concept is based on an active approach to the essence, emergence, formation and variation in the pattern of sensory perception of space in man's consciousness. This concept asserts that as pilot's professional expertise increases, the pattern of spatial orientation becomes geocentric because a new system of spatial perception evolves which is a result of the development of a new (instrumental) type of motor activity in space. This finds expression in the fact that perception of spatial position inflight occurs when man has to resolve a new motor task--movement along a complex trajectory in the three-dimensional space onboard a flying vehicle. The meaningful structure of this problem which is to be implemented through controlling movements of the pilot acts as a factor that forms this new system of perception. All this underlies the arrangement of meaningful collection of instrumental data and detection of noninstrumental signals in the comprehensive perception of changes in the spatial position of a flying vehicle.     

Experience in rendering medical care to infectious patients in Afghanistan]

For the first time it was Afghanistan where the 40th Army had faced with mass polyinfection morbidity which had a severe course and unfavourable outcome. In these conditions a new effective system of medical care to infectious patients was elaborated and applied. This system comprised a four-staged complex of medical and diagnostical measures. That made it possible to reduce the number of fatal cases by 16 times (from 0.49 to 0.03%) in 1983-1989. The total number of servicemen returned to active duty was brought up to 99.6%. The most important factors in this new system were the following: at prehospital stage--new methods in early definition of infectious patients, opportune diagnosis and emergency care; at hospital phase--new methods of triage, schemes of complex treatment for various nosological forms working principles of intensive therapy.     

Investigation of the anti-motion sickness effect of 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives]

Experiments with rats showed that three out of 12 3-hydroxypyridine derivatives (ethyl-methyl hyd- roxypyrine succinate, SK-132 and IBCP-2 - had an anti-motion sickness effect stronger than of scopolamine, the reference vestiboloprotector. The anti-motion sickness effect of ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine was also demonstrated in experiments with cats. Apparent anti-motion sickness effect of ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine (mexydol) was found in 69% of healthy male volunteers which is comparable with the effect of scopolamine (62%). In experiments with immobilized cats (myorelaxation drugs) the microelectrode technique and microontoiphoresis of physiologically active substances revealed that ethylmethyl hydroxypyrine influences the majority of neurons in the medial vestibular nucleus (61%). Suppression of cell spontaneous activities in more than one half of cases can be stopped completely or attenuated significantly by bicucculine, a specific GABA(A)-receptor antagonist. In 42% of neurons ethyl-methyl hydroxypyrine subdues the response to vestibular stimulation which is likely to underlie the anti-motion sickness effect.     

Synthesis, stereochemistry and anticonvulsant action of 4-phenyltetrahydroisoquinolines

The racemic and optically active 4'- and 8-substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines 2-5 have been synthesized and their effect on the water-immersion stress ulcer in rats has been studied. All compounds prevent the formation of stress ulcer, the strongest effect being exhibited by compound 4 and its dextrarotatory isomer (R1 = Cl, R2 = NHCOOC2H5). The antiulcer activity of 4 is 30 to 50 times higher than that of the H2 receptor antagonists Cimetidin and Ranitidin used for comparison. The absolute configuration of the optically active compounds 2, 3 and 4 has been determined by means of chemical correlation. The antiulcer activity of 4 is characterized by enantioselectivity, S-(+)-4 is three times as active than R-(-)-4.     

Antimicrobial and antibacterial activity of isatin thiosemicarbazones and their complex copper complexes (II) and (I)

Translated from Khimiko-farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 588–590, May, 1989.     

Specific binding of [3H]mepyramine to histamine H1-receptors in vascular smooth muscle membranes

The antagonist-sensitive binding of [³H]mepyramine to beef aortic membranes was as expected for binding to histamine H₁-receptors. [³H]mepyramine binds rapidly and in saturable fashion to the specific receptor sites, specific binding reaching equilibrium in 3 min at 37°CScatchard's analysis of the binding data gave a dissociation constant of 3.0 nM for the radioligand-receptor complex and maximal number of binding sites: 31 fmol/mg protein. In the competition studies histamine H₁-antagonists are more potent inhibitors of radioligand binding than H₂-antagonist. They inhibit [³H]mepyramine binding in the following order: mepyramine >triprolidine