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The effect of the variants of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) on aggressiveness was studied in male and female control subjects and athletes. Sports were found to generally decrease aggressiveness; this was true both for women doing nonaggressive sports and for men doing combat sports. The control group of men was characterized by higher indices of aggressiveness (physical and verbal aggression, negativism, and suspiciousness) than women were. Women, irrespective of age and whether they participated in sports, exhibited a relationship between 5-HTT gene variants and the displaced aggressiveness and negativism scales: the SS genotype was associated with a higher displaced aggressiveness and a low negativism. Men exhibited a different relationship. The general aggressiveness index was significantly higher in carriers of the LL genotype than in carriers of the SS genotype, whereas these subjects did not differ significantly in the parameters measured by individual scales. In men, the cerebral processes that are presumed to underlie aggressiveness were found to be related to 5-HTT gene variants. The HP component of the cerebral potential responsible for automatic detection of differences was increased and the P3a component responsible for involuntary attention and cognitive control. This suggests that carriers of the SS genotype use more cognitive resources to process information. This may be because the stimulus itself seems to be more "complex," which results in the involvement of additional resources of the frontal cortex. It may also be assumed that carriers of the SS genotype tend to analyze the incoming information more deeply. This, more "serious" analysis of external information may underlie their refraining from impulsive behavior, which is often aggressive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Association of brain processes presumably underlying aggression with serotonin transporter gene polymorphism in men was studied. Carriers of more active gene variant are characterized by higher aggression index, increased component of brain potential mismatch negativity responsible for automatic difference detection, and decreased P300 component characterizing involuntary attention and cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deficits in perception and production of vocal pitch are often observed in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the neural basis of these deficits is unknown. In magnetoencephalogram (MEG), spectrally complex periodic sounds trigger two continuous neural responses—the auditory steady state response (ASSR) and the sustained field (SF). It has been shown that the SF in neurotypical individuals is associated with low-level analysis of pitch in the 'pitch processing center' of the Heschl's gyrus. Therefore, alternations in this auditory response may reflect atypical processing of vocal pitch. The SF, however, has never been studied in people with ASD. Methods: We used MEG and individual brain models to investigate the ASSR and SF evoked by monaural 40 Hz click trains in boys with ASD (N = 35) and neurotypical (NT) boys (N = 35) aged 7–12-years. Results: In agreement with the previous research in adults, the cortical sources of the SF in children were located in the left and right Heschl's gyri, anterolateral to those of the ASSR. In both groups, the SF and ASSR dominated in the right hemisphere and were higher in the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulated ear. The ASSR increased with age in both NT and ASD children and did not differ between the groups. The SF amplitude did not significantly change between the ages of 7 and 12 years. It was moderately attenuated in both hemispheres and was markedly delayed and displaced in the left hemisphere in boys with ASD. The SF delay in participants with ASD was present irrespective of their intelligence level and severity of autism symptoms. Limitations: We did not test the language abilities of our participants. Therefore, the link between SF and processing of vocal pitch in children with ASD remains speculative. Conclusion: Children with ASD demonstrate atypical processing of spectrally complex periodic sound at the level of the core auditory cortex of the left-hemisphere. The observed neural deficit may contribute to speech perception difficulties experienced by children with ASD, including their poor perception and production of linguistic prosody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of SLC6A4 gene 5HTTLPR polymorphism alleles was evaluated in 223 male athletes engaged in endurance sports, the results were compared with those in 177 male nonathletes. Association between 5-HTTLPR genotypes and the effect of exhaustive treadmill running on simple and complex visual reactions and critical flicker frequency threshold was studied. We found that the incidence of LL genotype was significantly higher in athletes in comparison to nonathletes; after exercise, the velocity of visual reactions and critical flicker frequency increased; exercise did not change the velocity of complex visual reaction in LL-carriers, and increased it in SS-carriers. We conclude that exhausting treadmill running leads to facilitation sensory information processing in athletes and that SS-carriers are more susceptible to the effect of exhaustive treadmill running than LL-carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the functional status under the effect of intense mental exercise were studied in carriers of different variants of DAT1, DRD2, and COMT genes. The volunteers ( n=140) performed 3-h monotonous mental work (information processing and logical problem solving). The degree of fatigue was evaluated before and after exercise by the HAM (Health status– Activity–Moods) and AMF (Acute Mental Fatigue) questionnaires. A signifi cant relationship between the DAT1, DRD2, and COMT gene polymorphism and changes in the mental sphere status were revealed. The effects of these polymorphisms were the most pronounced in girls. The results are discussed within the framework of hypothesis on the effects of changes in the phasic/tonic dopamine proportion on the studied functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary processes, visbreaking in particular, are the primary sources of hydrogen sulfide in commercial residual fuel oil, whose content is subject to stiff restrictions in Russia and abroad. The hydrogen sulfide content in residual fuel oil can be reduced by using special reagents, namely, hydrogen sulfide sorbents, which are water-soluble for light petroleum products and crude oil-soluble for dark products. The problems related to use of oil-soluble sorbents are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]