Pathogenesis of central mechanisms of speech function disorders in children with alalia

A study of special synchronization of brain biopotentials in EEG registrations by a correlational analysis permitted to establish that in children with alalia there was a complex defect in intercentral relations of the associative infraparietal areas with auditory, visual and motor analyzers in the left hemisphere. In children with alalia the intercentral correlations of biopotentials of the parieto-temporal areas were 10 times less, in the parieto-occipital ares 3 times less and almost twice less in the parieto-motor areas in the left hemisphere in comparison with norman children. Consequently disturbed speech development in children with alalia is connected with a defect in the functions of the higher sensory analysis and synthesis in the associative infraparietal areas with disturbed activity in the synchronizing, activating brain systems with disorders in the organization of spacial-time relations in different cortical areas.     

Subsequent mutagenesis under the action of UV rays in a culture of Actinomadura carminata, a producer of carminomycin

The succession of some markers on the chromosomes of Actinomadura carminata was shown with the method of successive mutagenesis based on the preferable effect of the mutagen on DNA in the site of replication. The spore germination was synchronized by selection of the spores of the definite size and maintenance at a temperature of 0 degrees. The periods of formation of the highest numbers of morphological and auxotrophic mutants were compared with the time of DNA replication.     

Clozapine and risperidone in chronic schizophrenia: effects on symptoms, parkinsonian side effects, and neuroendocrine response

OBJECTIVE: Clozapine and risperidone were the first two "second-generation" antipsychotic drugs approved for schizophrenia. There is currently little information about their comparative efficacy from head-to-head clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to examine the comparative efficacy of clozapine and risperidone for positive and negative symptoms, depression, parkinsonian side effects, and indexes of neuroendocrine function in schizophrenic patients who met a priori criteria for partial response to traditional neuroleptic agents. METHOD: After a baseline fluphenazine treatment period, 29 patients participated in a 6-week, double-blind, parallel-group comparison of the effects of these agents. RESULTS: Clozapine was superior to risperidone for positive symptoms and parkinsonian side effects, but there were no significant differences between the drugs on two measures of negative symptoms, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total scores, and depression scores. The clozapine patients, but not the risperidone patients, demonstrated significant reductions from the fluphenazine baseline in positive symptoms, total symptoms, and depression. In addition, clozapine produced fewer effects on plasma prolactin than risperidone or fluphenazine. The mean daily doses during week 6 of the trial were 403.6 mg of clozapine and 5.9 mg of risperidone. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study indicate that these drugs have both important differences and similarities in their comparative efficacy in chronically ill, partially responsive patients with schizophrenia. Further research on second-generation antipsychotic drugs in this patient population that addresses key methodological issues, such as optimal dose and treatment duration, are needed.     

Oxidative damage induced by the fullerene C60 on photosensitization in rat liver microsomes

We have examined the ability of a commonly used fullerene, C60, to induce oxidative damage on photosensitization using rat liver microsomes as model membranes. When C60 was incorporated into rat liver microsomes in the form of its cyclodextrin complex and exposed to UV or visible light, it induced significant oxidative damage in terms of (1) lipid peroxidation as assayed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), lipid hydroperoxides and conjugated dienes, and (2) damage to proteins as assessed by protein carbonyls and loss of the membrane-bound enzymes. The oxidative damage induced was both time- and concentration-dependent. C60 plus light-induced lipid peroxidation was significantly inhibited by the quenchers of singlet oxygen ((1)O2), beta-carotene and sodium azide, and deuteration of the buffer-enhanced peroxidation. These observations indicate that C60 is an efficient inducer of peroxidation and is predominantly due to (1)O2. Biological antioxidants such as glutathione, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol significantly differ in their ability to inhibit peroxidation induced by C60. Our studies, hence, indicate that C60, on photosensitization, can induce significant lipid peroxidation and other forms of oxidative damage in biological membranes and that this phenomenon can be greatly modulated by endogenous antioxidants and scavengers of reactive oxygen species.