Synthesis and antihypoxic activity of 1,2,4-triazoles, 1,3-dithiane-1,1,3,3-tetraoxides,and 1,4-benzothiazin-3(4H)-one

Translated from Khimiko-farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 38–41, February, 1992.     

Ethnogenomic diversity of Caucasus, Daghestan.

Autosomal short-tandem repeats (STRs) were typed in ethnic populations of Kubachians, Dargins, Avars, Lezgins, Kumiks, and Nogais of the Caucasus (Daghestan, Russia) at the University of Utah. Daghestan ethnic populations demonstrated differences in STR allele frequency distributions, but these differences were much lower among these ethnic groups compared to worldwide ethnic groups. The observed genetic diversity was low while F(ST) values were high, both of which provided supporting evidence for small population sizes and high levels of isolation among the ethnic groups. An analysis of genetic distance from the three major continents, encompassing Daghestan populations and groups, reveals three distinct clusters: all populations of African affiliation, European and Daghestan populations except the Nogais, and Asian populations with ethnic Nogais.     

Effect of stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus on the correlation of neuron spike activity in the rabbit neocortex

Cross-correlation and autocorrelation histograms were constructed with the aim of studying correlated spike activity of neurons in the visual and sensorimotor regions of both hemispheres of the rabbit brain before and after stimulation of the right and left lateral hypothalamic regions, which generates food-motivated responses. Stimulation of the left hypothalamus produced larger rearrangements in correlated neuron firing than stimulation of the right hypothalamus. Stimulation of the left hypothalamus, unlike that of the right hypothalamus, was followed by significant increases in the numbers of pairs of left hemisphere neocortical neurons with linked activity, and also induced the sequential firing of neurons in a particular defined order: sensorimotor cortex cells fired first, followed by visual cortex neurons after delays of up to 120 msec. It is concluded that cortical interhemisphere asymmetry in conditions of hunger is associated with nonuniform functioning of the right and left lateral hypothalamic regions. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Translated from Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti, Vol. 46, No. 6, pp. 1068–1075, November–December, 1996.     

Selenium contents in blood and urine of persons working with copying machines

Medical investigation was made of 271 workers including 112 males and 159 females exhibited to selenium concentrations lower MAC. The atom absorption spectrometry technique was applied to determine the selenium content levels in blood and urine. The analysis performed revealed increased contents of selenium in the blood of 20.1% and in the urine of 5.5% of those examined. The selenium excretion which followed the use of antidote increased twice. No relationship between the duration of exposition and blood and urine selenium content was revealed. Antidote therapy with CaNa2 EDTA was studied in 16 inpatient clinical cases.     

Mutational analysis of the SOX9 gene in campomelic dysplasia and autosomal sex reversal: lack of genotype/phenotype correlations

It has previously been shown that, in the heterozygous state, mutations in the SOX9 gene cause campomelic dysplasia (CD) and the often associated autosomal XY sex reversal. In 12 CD patients, 10 novel mutations and one recurrent mutation were characterized in one SOX9 allele each, and in one case, no mutation was found. Four missense mutations are all located within the high mobility group (HMG) domain. They either reduce or abolish the DNA-binding ability of the mutant SOX9 proteins. Among the five nonsense and three frameshift mutations identified, two leave the C-terminal transactivation (TA) domain encompassing residues 402-509 of SOX9 partly or almost completely intact. When tested in cell transfection experiments, the recurrent nonsense mutation Y440X, found in two patients who survived for four and more than 9 years, respectively, exhibits some residual transactivation ability. In contrast, a frameshift mutation extending the protein by 70 residues at codon 507, found in a patient who died shortly after birth, showed no transactivation. This is apparently due to instability of the mutant SOX9 protein as demonstrated by Western blotting. Amino acid substitutions and nonsense mutations are found in patients with and without XY sex reversal, indicating that sex reversal in CD is subject to variable penetrance. Finally, none of 18 female patients with XY gonadal dysgenesis (Swyer syndrome) showed an altered SOX9 banding pattern in SSCP assays, providing evidence that SOX9 mutations do not usually result in XY sex reversal without skeletal malformations.