Antitubercular activity of lomefloxacin in an experiment

The effect of lomefloxacin was studied on mice with experimental infection due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The antibiotic was administered in doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg. It was shown that the use of lomefloxacin for a month provided a lower death rate of the animals with progressing acute generalized tuberculosis, a lower level of the lesions in the internal organs and a lower number of the Mycobacterium isolates from them. The efficacy of the treatment depended on the drug dose. When lomefloxacin was used in a dose of 200 mg/kg, the survival rate was much higher and the number of the epithelial unicellular granulomas in the tissue of the lung and spleen was markedly decreased while with the lower dose the indices did not differ from those in the control.     

On basic definitions of unified fracture mechanics terminology

The adoption of unified fracture mechanics terminology (UFMT) will promote efficient communication between specialists in different fields of fracture research, harmonization of national and international standards relating to fracture mechanics, and last but not least improvement of the existing methodology for teaching and education in fatigue and fracture. In this paper the definitions of some basic and related terms included in different standards on fracture mechanics terminology are confronted with one another. Alternative definitions of the same terms are offered. By this strategy the author tries to show that the definitions of basic and related terms appropriate for the UFMT should emerge as a consequence of harmonizing a crack model with an actual crack and then both taken together with a fracture model, laboratory test methods, and failure assessment codes.Published in Problemy Prochonsti, No. 1, pp. 17–29, January, 1996.This paper is published as a matter of discussion.     

New high-efficiency low-waste technology at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant for operating metallurgical equipment with the use of Kompaks® monitoring systems

Introduction of the BER? KOMPAKS® automated system at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant to safely and efficiently manage the operation of the plant’s equipment has allowed the facility to begin operating that equipment based on real-time evaluations of its actual physical condition. Introduction of the new system has also allowed better coordination of repair-scheduling with ongoing production operations, significantly improved the reliability and readiness of the equipment for operation at 100% capacity, completely eliminated the human factor from the process of monitoring the condition of equipment, and made it possible to check the quality and timeliness of equipment maintenance and repair work so as to ensure safe, efficient operation of the entire production complex.     

Human gamma-interferon expression in the mammary gland of transgenic mice

Transgenic mice carrying a hybrid gene consisting of ovine beta-lactoglobulin gene sequences and human gamma-interferon (hIFN-g) cDNA were produced. hIFN-g expression in the mammary gland of two lactating transgenic founder females was found. The concentration of active hIFN-g in the milk was estimated as being ca. 1800 IU/ml. The hIFN-g ability to express in the mammary gland was found in the progeny of transgenic founder male.     

Nucleation and growth of a macrocrack in tension and compression

Conclusions The general approach to analysis of the processes of nucleation and growth of radial separation macrocracks from the surface of a circular hole in sheets deformed in tension and compression was used to obtain new relations for calculating the characteristic values of compressive and tensile loads. The calculated results are in satisfactory agreement with the results of tests on sheets. At the same time, we detected unexpected fundamentally important aspects of the problem of brittle failure by separation.Firstly, it is justified to assume that the length of the region of the strong effect of the free surface of the hole on the state of the zone of development of the failure process in compression can be an order of magnitude higher than that in tensile loading. Secondly, with an increase of the distance of the crack tips from the hole the resistance of the material to failure in compressive loading gradually increases from the value close to minimum, at which k = 0, to its maximum value at k=-. If both these claims are valid, in future it would be necessary to revise greatly the methodology, results, and conclusions of a large number of investigations of brittle failure in compression, partially, in tension.Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 62–66, September–October, 1991.     

Reproductive health of the family as a goal of industrial medicine

Modern demographic situation stressed the problems of human reproductive health associated with industrial medical topics. The article suggests to regard a family (child and two parents) as a unit under study in industrial medicine. This methodic approach should work in scientific programs reviewing influence of industrial ecology and environmental factors on reproductivity. The authors suggest elaboration of universal strategy for ecologic and epidemiologic studies to form a scientific branch "Epidemiology of reproductive health" and to elaborate methods for better health management during the present demographic crisis.     

Effects of antioxidant state on individual susceptibility to silicosis (an experimental study)

The authors proved that animals having higher natural antioxidant activity and lower intensity of lipid peroxidation are more resistant to fibrogenic effects of quartz. The peritoneal macrophages obtained from those animals show higher resistance to quartz exposure "in vitro". Parameters characterizing antioxidant system should be included into a group of indexes describing propensity to silicosis.     

Heat denaturation of hemocytocardiotoxin from the venom of the Central Asian cobra

It has been stated that boiled for three hours haemocytocardiotoxin (HT) from cobra poison loses "direct" hemolytic activity and is unable to potentiate a haemolytic effect of phospholipase A. Surface activity of HT does not change. It is shown that in the course of heat denaturation the aggregation of toxin molecules to dimers and trimers takes place and electrophoretic mobility is decreased. The fluorescence of HT tyroxin residues supported the fact of its irreversible heat denaturation.     

LINGUISTIC FUZZY SYSTEMS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN ECONOMETRICS

This paper gives a brief summary of the linguistic fuzzy systems iheory and describes its possible application in econometric modelling. The essential feature of the used approach is a transformation of if-then rale bases into approximative deterministic behavior functions of considered economic systems.     

Effect of Nb Addition on Oxidation Mechanisms of High Cr Ferritic Steel in Ar–H2–H2O

High chromium ferritic steels are being used as construction materials for interconnects in solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC). Addition of niobium in the range of a few tenths of a percent is suitable for increasing the high-temperature creep strength of this type of ferritic steel. In the present work, the high-temperature isothermal oxidation behavior of a niobium containing ferritic steel at 800 °C was investigated in Ar–4%H₂–4%H₂O gas simulating the service environment in an SOEC (cathode side) and compared with that of a Nb-free counterpart alloy. Gravimetric data were correlated with the results from microstructural analyses using, among others, scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. Atom probe tomography was used for obtaining atomic-scale insight into the segregation processes in external oxides and their interfaces. The oxidation rate was substantially higher for the Nb-containing than for the Nb-free alloy. Both alloys formed double-layered oxide scales consisting of inner chromia and outer MnCr₂O₄ spinel. Additionally, a thin layer of rutile-type Nb(Ti,Cr)O₂ oxide of 200–300 nm thickness was observed at the scale–alloy interface in the Nb-containing steel. Nb addition to the alloy led to its segregation at chromia grain boundaries which affected the diffusion of Cr and other solute species such as Ti, Mn and Si.