Mitotic activity of the kidney undergoing compensatory hypertrophy at high altitudes

Experiments on 420 male albino rats weighing 105–120 g showed that at high altitudes the maximal increase in mitotic activity of the renal cortex and medulla during compensatory hypertrophy is 2–2.5 times less than in the valley, and it is observed on the fifth, and not the second, day after unilateral nephrectomy.Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 70, No. 12, pp. 76–79, December, 1970.     

Kinetics of free-radical oxidation of blood serum as an indicator of tumor effect on organism

The experiments were made with 83 outbred male rats with transplanted sarcoma-45. The method of initiated chemiluminescence (CL) was used to measure the parameters of blood-serum lipid peroxidation in the animals. The index of free-radical blood-serum lipid peroxidation was shown to reflect in rats the tumor-body ratio. Initially, the kinetic parameters of induced CL were significantly increasing, which was accompanied by a minor remission of the tumor volume. The subsequent stages of tumor growth were associated with increasing, parameters in the studied enzymes' activity, which is apparently related with the expression of genes crucial for the body's antioxidant properties. This enables the tumor cells to escape the monitoring of non-specific cellular immunity with the result being an uncontrollable tumor-volume growth.     

The corrosion resistance of aluminum and aluminum-based alloys studied in artificial model media]

Samples of aluminum and its alloys, designed for orthodontic employment, were exposed to 4 media simulating the properties of biologic media. The corrosion resistance of the tested alloys was assessed from the degree of aluminum migration to simulation media solutions, which was measured by the neutron activation technique. Aluminum alloy with magnesium and titanium has shown the best corrosion resistance.     

Cognitive Deficits in Multiple Sclerosis: Recent Advances in Treatment and Neurorehabilitation

Purpose of review

This article highlights recent progress in research on treatment and neurorehabilitation of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) including pharmacological interventions, physical exercise, and neuropsychological rehabilitation, both in conventional and technology-assisted settings.

Recent findings

The most consistent evidence in terms of improvement or preservation of circumscribed cognitive scores in MS patients comes from moderately sampled randomized clinical trials on multimodal approaches that combine conventional or computerized neuropsychological training with psychoeducation or cognitive behavioral therapy. Disease-modifying treatments also appear to have beneficial effects in preventing or attenuating cognitive decline, whereas there is little evidence for agents such as donepezil or stimulants. Finally, physical exercise may yield some cognitive improvement in MS patients.

Summary

Despite substantial and often promising research efforts, there is a lack of validated and widely accepted clinical procedures for cognitive neurorehabilitation in MS. Development of such approaches will require collaborative efforts towards the design of interventions that are fundamentally inspired by cognitive neuroscience, potentially guided by neuroimaging, and composed of conventional neuropsychological training and cognitive behavioral therapy as well as physical exercise and therapeutic video games. Subsequently, large-scale validation will be needed with meaningful outcome measures reflecting transfer to everyday cognitive function and maintenance of training effects.