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The epidemic situation and etiological factors of enterovirus infection in Russia and Vietnam were analysed and compared. The identified strains of enteroviruses of 47 types, which circulated in Russia in 2018–2019, belonged to different species: Enterovirus species A (CV-A2, CV-A4, CV-A6, CV-A8, CV-A10, CV-A16, EV-A71), as well as Enterovirus species B and Enterovirus species C. The strains isolated from 87 children from southern Vietnam hospitalised in 2018–2019 into infectious hospitals while having enterovirus infection with exanthema were also studied. All identified strains were represented by Enterovirus species A: EV-A71 — 59 strains, CV-A10 — 20 strains, CV-A16 — 5 strains, CV-A6 — two strains and CV-A2 — one strain. Out of 59 viruses EV-A71, 53 strains belonged to genotype C4 and 6 strains belonged to genotype B5. The sequences of EV-A71 strains of genotype C4 from South Vietnam formed a monophyletic cluster with the sequences of EV-A71 viruses which circulated during 2016–2018 in different provinces of China, and they were very close to EV-A71 strains of the same genotype from the Yunnan Province. These strains were genetically different from Russian viruses and Vietnamese viruses identified in the years 2003–2005 and 2011– 2012. Most of the cases of enterovirus infection from southern Vietnam (78%) caused by EV-A71 virus of genotype C4 were reported in three provinces located in southern Vietnam in the Mekong Delta. The epidemic process and the etiology of enterovirus infection in Russia and Vietnam have common features. At the same time, the epidemic situation in these countries is not the same. The incidence of enterovirus infection is influenced by geographic, climatic, economic and demographic factors that differ in two countries. In the majority of territories of Russia, the climate is temperate or cold, seasonal rises in the incidence rates of enterovirus infection usually occur in the summer, when people go on vacation, spend a lot of time outdoors and swim in open reservoirs. In Vietnam, a constant high-level temperature, a high population density and a large proportion of children determine the higher incidence of enterovirus infection, especially in the southern provinces of Vietnam, compared to Russia. The fact that more than 20% of the Vietnamese population lives in the Mekong Delta, which is the largest river in Indochina, has a significant impact on the epidemic process of enterovirus infection in South Vietnam. The Mekong River which flows through China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and carries huge streams of water, including rainstorm waters and sewages, from all of these countries into the southern provinces of Vietnam, which have the highest incidence rates of enterovirus infection in the country. The results of the research underline the importance of active epidemiological and virological surveillance of enterovirus infection, which plays the key role in informing the public health authorities about the changes in the epidemic situation in order to take appropriate measures and develop the prevention strategies. The goal of anti-epidemic and preventive measures is to reduce the incidence of enterovirus infection and the economic burden of this infection for Russia and Vietnam.

Background: Coxsackievirus A10 (CV-A10) is currently one of the most common etiological agents of enterovirus infection (EVI). Over the past decade, severe and fatal cases of CV-A10 infection have become more frequent while clinical manifestations of the disease are similar to those of Enterovirus A71 infection. The objective of our study was to characterize circulation of Coxsackievirus A10 in the Russian Federation in 2008–2019 and to study the phylogenetic relationships of strains isolated in Russia and Vietnam. Materials and methods: In 2008–2019, 220 CV-A10 strains were isolated from patients with various clinical manifestations of EVI and from sewage water samples taken in the Russian Federation and then studied using molecular genetic methods. In addition to that, we analyzed 26 CV-A10 strains isolated from patients with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and acute flaccid paralysis in South Vietnam in 2018–2019. Results: We established a two-year periodicity of CV-A10 active circulation in Russia. In the structure of clinical forms of CV-A10 infection, herpetic angina prevailed (30.8 %), followed by minor illness (25.25 %), respiratory diseases (15.66 %), exanthema (14.65 %), gastrointestinal disorders (8.08 %), and asymptomatic infections (2.02 %). Symptoms of CNS damage (meningitis, meningoencephalitis) were observed in 3.53 % of cases. Most CV-A10 strains from Vietnam were isolated from patients with CNS affection of varying degrees of severity. During the study period, CV-A10 strains of genotypes C, E, and F3 circulated in the territory of the Russian Federation whereas the strains from South Vietnam were represented by genotypes F3 and F1. The studied strains showed a genetic relationship with those of CV-A10 circulating in different countries. Vietnamese and some Russian strains of the F3 genotype were genetically close to the strains isolated from severe cases. Conclusions: Molecular monitoring of CV-A10 circulation is an important component of the global epidemiological surveillance of EVI.

Currently, rural school faces many difficulties both within its system and outside (unfavorable challenges of the external society), which complicate the organization of the educational process. Accordingly, the atmosphere of psychological comfort for all subjects of educational activity in rural schools decreases. The purpose of the study is to diagnose, record and describe the state of psychological comfort in the education of a modern rural school. The leading method for collecting primary empirical information was the survey method conducted in the format of a Google questionnaire (a questionnaire for representatives of the administration of an educational organization; a questionnaire for a teacher; a questionnaire for primary and high school students; a questionnaire for parents). In the Kirov region, rural and urban schools participated in the study: totally 338 responses to the questionnaire were received, of which 144 are students, 111 parents, 71 teachers and 12 administrations. The article presents the author's interpretation of the concept «psychological comfort of education in rural school». The diagnostics was carried out and the integral coefficient of psychological comfort of education in rural school was determined, measured in three directions: an integral indicator of the attitude to the educational environment; selection of significant characteristics of the educational environment and the index of satisfaction with them; index of psychological safety of the educational environment of the school. In general, the integral coefficient is characterized by a high level. The materials of the article can be used to diagnose the psychological comfort of the both urban and rural schools. Further research will be aimed at developing a concept and defining pedagogical mechanisms for improving the characteristics of the psychological comfort of education in rural schools.

The need to solve the problem of improving the quality of education actualizes the comprehension of the problem of identifying, establishing the causes of occurrence, developing ways to overcome the didactic difficulties of teachers in the information society. However, no scientific studies based on the results of the works of foreign scientists on this issue, systematically reflecting the essence of the issue for Russian schools in a comparative way in modern conditions, have not been found. At the same time, comparative analysis can contribute to a deeper understanding of the educational situation in the context of the study of professional didactic difficulties of both Russian and foreign teachers. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption of the presence of invariant (regardless of historical time, country) and variable (determined by the socio-cultural conditions of a particular country, the territorial location of the educational organization (village-city), professional and personal characteristics of the teacher, etc.) difficulties of teachers. The purpose of the study is to formulate and characterize the current state of the problem of identifying, establishing the causes of its occurrence, developing ways to overcome the didactic difficulties of teachers in a comparative aspect. The methodological foundations are systematic, monitoring and praxeological approaches with leading methods of content analysis, "panel research", theoretical generalization of empirical data based on the results of the activities of 15 innovative regional sites in the Kirov region (a sample of 68 teachers from urban and rural schools). The results of the application of the methodology "Professional needs and difficulties of teachers" made it possible to confirm the theoretical conclusions on the difficulties of foreign teachers and to record the empirical facts of the didactic difficulties of teachers in Russia. Thus, significant similarities were revealed between the difficulties of teachers of the studied groups in 10 studied blocks (50 competencies) of a teacher: personal, legal, economic, managerial, general cultural, general educational, communicative, psychological, methodological, technological. The processing used qualitative methods of mathematical statistics. Urban educators show a higher level of professional hardship. Difficulties of varying degrees were identified for all studied competencies. 4 groups of difficulties were identified: 1st group: difficulties experienced by more than 50% of teachers (3 indicators each); 2nd – from 40 to 50% (5-6 indicators); 3rd group – from 30 to 40% (more than 10); 4th group – less than 30% (about 30). At the same time, it was found that more than half of the respondents experience difficulties due to the low level of proficiency in digital technologies; the presence of a professional deficit in pedagogical communication is confirmed by the choice of the indicator “contact with people” (43.24% of rural and 72.73% of urban teachers); makes it difficult for teachers to independently study didactic theories and achieve meta-subject results, etc. The classification of teachers' difficulties developed by the authors on the basis of "design, implementation and analysis of holistic learning", which allows to systematically identify similar and different elements of didactic difficulties of teachers in Russia and abroad; presented the author's interpretation of the term "didactic difficulties of teachers" in the context of determining the axes of the didactic triangle; generalized scientific and methodological options for overcoming the didactic difficulties of teachers of general education in Russia and abroad (organizing methodological work at school, conducting communication and creativity trainings for teachers on relevant topics) expand the theoretical understanding of the problem under study and can be useful in organizing the activities of school, municipal and regional methodological services in the implementation of scientific and methodological support for teachers of general education.

The subject of the article is the testing process on multi-touch devices for the implementation of psychoneurological studies. The goal of the work is development specialized dynamic tests with the introduction of Multi-touch technology to detect carpal tunnel syndrome and hand dysfunction in the early stages of the disease. An objective of the work is to conduct a theoretical analysis to determine the optimal parameters of touchscreen devices for the implementation of psycho neurological testing; based on experimental studies to determine the main physical indicators of the test results, indicating the presence of functional disorders of the hand. The constant use of computers, smartphones, gadgets provide multiple identical load on the wrist; constant visual and neuro-emotional stress; sitting position of the body; static tension of the musculoskeletal system caused by the need to maintain a working posture; decreased overall motor activity. The methods of computer modeling and visualization of dynamic tests using the multi-platform programming language Python were used. Results. The scientific novelty and practical significance of the obtained results is the development of specialized software and algorithmic software for dynamic testing on sensory devices with the ability to video record the movements of the upper extremities in the mode "Rapid". The advantage of this method is its non-invasiveness, ease of implementation, as well as the absence of sensors that can restrict movement. Using the rapid method, one can easily distinguish the pathological state of motor activity of the hand from the established norm. Conclusions. A specialized software tool was developed, which was adapted for multi-touch screens that allow identifying functional disorders of the hand by registering the main physical parameters during testing. Dynamic tests are adapted for any age category of participants (patients), have additional modes for individual color perception and different levels of complexity.

The purpose of this article is to present the author's interpretation of the phenomenon of the education psychological comfort in rural school and some results on the analysis of its actual state, recorded in the framework of the empirical part of the study. The research methodology is integrative-differentiated, value, comparative, statistical and inductive approaches. The main methods are analysis of a few theoretical domestic and foreign sources on the problem of psychological comfort of education in a general educational organization; a survey method conducted in the format of a Google questionnaire for four groups of participants in the educational process – teachers teaching in basic and high schools, their parents and school administrators (the questionnaire used the diagnostic technique of I. A.»); content analysis of answers to open-ended questionnaires; method of primary qualitative analysis of empirical arrays obtained in the study; secondary analysis using methods of mathematical statistics. The content of the article presents the following research results: the author's interpretation of the phenomenon «psychological comfort of education in modern rural school»; the results obtained in 10 regions of the Russian Federation in the form of a) defining the mission of modern rural school based on an analysis of the answers of representatives of the administration of rural schools; b) the calculated complex characteristics of education in rural school «integral coefficient of psychological comfort in education». All results are of a comparative nature: data on rural schools correlate with similar parameters of urban schools in the regions. These results determine the scientific novelty of the research being carried out. The materials of the article will be useful to the pedagogical community; scientists interested in both the problems of rural schools and comparative pedagogy; managers and graduate students; possibly to social institutions collecting statistics on the education system. We should add that this article starts series of articles in which the results of the study on individual problems and regions will be presented in more detail.

—The participation of specialists of the Presidential Library in the formation of the digital content of the institution under the national standardization program is characterized. The innovative experience of the Presidential Library in providing information and consulting services and preparing information products is highlighted. The organization of a continuing education system for library staff, the translation of international standards and guidelines and the development of teaching materials, as well as promising areas of the Presidential Library’s activities in the field of digital content generation are considered.

Type of enterovirus was detected in 2753 cases when examining 4122 patients with various clinical forms of enterovirus infection (EVI) during the 2017-2018 period. We identified viruses of 42 types belonging to Enterovirus A-B-С species. The ratio of EV-A: EV-B: EV-C species was 51.29 percent: 47.06 percent: 1.65 percent. In 413 environment samples 29 non-polio enteroviruses were identified, three of which, CA14, EVA76 and ECHO25, were not detected in the period in patients with EVI. The Coxsackie A6 virus, which caused a drastic increase in the morbidity of exanthema forms was the dominant agent in the etiological structure of EVI in 2017 in most areas; the leading etiological agents of enteroviral meningitis (ECM) were the ECHO30, ECHO9, ECHO18 viruses. There was a decrease in the morbidity of both all forms of EVI and computers due to a decrease in the activity of the circulation of epidemic variants of the Coxsackie A6 and ECHO30 viruses as a whole in Russia in 2018. The computer epidemic process in 2018 was supported by the become active or remained active viruses of ECHO6, Coxsacke B5, ECHO9, ECHO18 and other viruses of the Enterovirus B species. The remaining relatively high morbidity of exanthema forms of EVI in addition to the Koksaki A6 virus was supported by the activated viruses Koksaki A16, Koksaki A5 and other viruses of the Enterovirus A species. The results of phylogenetic analysis of genome sequences that dominated etiological agents of EVI indicate that in 2018 there was a multiple importation of enterovirus epidemic variants into the territory of the Russian Federation, which supported the EVI / computer epidemiological process in the Russian Federation as a whole and caused a complication of the epidemiological situation in a number of subjects. It is possible that these events contributed to the arrival of a large number of fans at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and visa-free entry into the territory of the Russian Federation for this category of tourists until the end of the year.

Cryomicroscopy is one of the main techniques to visualize freezing and thawing events taking place during cryopreservation of cells, native and artificial tissues with the ultimate goal to provide cell- and tissue-specific cryogenic preservation. However, there is currently no unified software tool for the automated analysis of ice recrystallization kinetics for a variety of cryoprotective agents used in the cryobiological practice. In this regard, we focused on the particular aspect of image analysis in the course of ice recrystallization, i.e. the possibility of using a neural network for the segmentation of ice crystals during isothermal annealing. In the work, the U-Net deep neural network was used for segmentation of ice crystals on cryomicroscopic images. Using 100 images as training set, the resulting accuracy of ice crystal segmentation was about 74% on the test sample (30 images). The obtained results show the possibility of segmentation of ice crystals in cryomicroscopic images taking into account the overlapping of intensity levels of an object and background. Further improvement of the model through the use of an additional training data as well as augmentation techniques is required to more efficiently validate this approach.

Surgical medicine is one of the most radical approaches for the treatment of numerous types of diseases. Recently broad application has taken the direction of computational surgery that aims to improve the quality of treatment through the use of computer tools. The use of computational surgery in rhinoplasty is important due to the fact that the results of the intervention directly affect the geometry of the nasal cavity and, as a consequence, the aerodynamic parameters of the nose. In turn, these parameters determine the functional characteristics of the patient’s nasal cavity. In this paper, we have focused on modeling the deformation of anatomical structures using SOFA framework software library considering tetrahedron finite element modeling (FEM), hexahedron FEM, triangle FEM and mesh spring force fields. The simulation results indicate the high functionality of the SOFA framework for modeling the deformation of the airway in rhinosurgical interventions. These results could further be applied for modeling the deformation of the anatomical structure taking into account the change in the topology of a 3D model to simulate such surgical procedures as a cut.

A procedure was suggested for preparing epoxy ether urethane oligomers via intermediate oligodiisocyanates with increased content of the starting 2,4-toluene diisocyanate. The procedure allows preparation of epoxy-containing oligomers with appreciable fraction of low-molecular-mass diglycidyl urethane. The presence of diglycidyl urethane in the binder enhances not only the adhesion but also the strength of the cured material without significantly affecting the glass transition point of the binder. Elastic materials prepared by curing the compounds studied with cylcoaliphatic amines exhibit enhanced levels of strength and low-temperature elasticity.

In this paper we present a synthetic approach to six new D–π–A–D conjugated chromophores containing the N-[ω-(4-methoxyphenoxy)alkyl]carbazole fragment. Such readily functionalizable heterocycle as carbazole was used as a main starting compound for their preparation. The investigation of the optical properties has shown that the positive solvatochromism is inherent to the chromophores containing an electron-withdrawing prop-2-en-1-one fragment, while the compounds containing a 2-aminopyrimidine moiety exhibit both positive and negative solvatochromism. The fluorescence quantum yields were experimentally determined for some of the synthesized chromophores; e.g., 1-(5-arylthiophen-2-yl)ethanones quantum yields were found to lie in an interval of 60–80%. Electrochemical oxidation of the synthesized chromophores has resulted in the formation of colored thin oligomeric films that became possible due to the presence of carbazole or pyrrole fragments with free electron-rich positions.

Acylation of 9-(2-ethylhexyl)carbazole with acetyl bromide in the presence of tin(IV) chloride gave 3-acetyl- and 3,6-diacetyl-9-(2-ethylhexyl)carbazoles which were brought into condensation with 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-2-carbaldehyde to obtain new chalcones capable of undergoing electrochemical and chemical polymerization.

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the effect of two forms of highly purified butyrylcholinesterase: native and conjugated with gold nanoparticles on the dynamics of cholinesterase activity in blood plasma and target organs. The results of the experiment showed that the peak of cholinesterase activity was observed 24 hours after administration of the native butyrylcholinesterase. The conjugated form of butyrylcholinesterase showed a small but stable increase in the cholinesterase level over a longer time (up to 3 days).

The addition of 20-nm gold and silver nanoparticles to a growth medium has a positive effect on the growth of biomass of a cell suspension culture of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Growing the cells with silver and gold nanoparticles causes different changes in the pH of the medium: the culture medium is made markedly acidic by the addition of silver nanoparticles and alkaline by the addition of gold nanoparticles. As is found by the MTT assay, metallic nanoparticles are responsible for a slight but steady decrease in the specific respiratory activity of cells of the A. thaliana suspension culture. Growth with the nanoparticles is accompanied by an increase in the intracellular free amino acid pool (alanine, γ-aminobutyric acid, and valine), which is characteristic of responses to abiogenic stresses. Furthermore, the addition of the nanoparticles changes the composition of extracellular proteins in the A. thaliana cell culture.

This work describes the use of linguistic modeling for biometric identify the patient during testing on graphics tablet. The general structure of the system identification algorithm and the realization method based on interval approach are reviewed. In the article, basic principles are considered aimed at construction, application and use of the automated systems of authentication on the basis of "informational handwriting" of work stylus on graphics tablet. Some approaches to tremor identification through two constituents of "informational handwriting" are explored: testing on keyboard, touchscreen and dynamics of work with the stylus on graphics tablet was considered.

We studied changes in the transcription of genes encoding cytokines (TNF, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-32), cell activation markers (ICAM1, CD38, Fas, and FCGRIII), ROS production catalyst (NOX2), autophagy (Beclin 1, LC3B, and p62) and apoptosis (BAX, BCL2) regulators in peripheral blood mononuclear cells upon contact with quantum dots CdSe/ZnS-MPA and CdSe/CdSeZnS/ZnS-PTVP. Up-regulation of TNF, ICAM1, Fas, p62 mRNA and down-regulation of the FCGRIII and NOX2 mRNA in response to the presence of quantum dots were revealed. The formation of serum protein corona on the surface of quantum dots abolished this effect.

Novel carbazole- and triphenylamine-containing alkylidene malononitriles that include thiophene and bithienyl fragments as π-spacers were synthesized. Quantum-chemical calculations of the frontier molecular orbital energies were performed using the B3LYP/6-31G(d) method with regard to solvent. Electronic absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra were recorded for all the obtained compounds; their electrochemical properties were also studied. The experimental energy values of HOMO and LUMO levels were derived from resulting data. Thin films were obtained by the spin coating technique, and their surface morphology was studied using a NTEGRA Prima scanning tunneling microscope.

Nowadays research of psychomotor actions has taken a special place in education, sports, medicine, psychology etc. Development of computer system for psychomotor testing could help solve many operational problems in psychoneurology and psychophysiology and also determine the individual characteristics of fine motor skills. This is particularly relevant issue when it comes to children, students, athletes for definition of personal and professional features. The article presents the dynamics of a developing psychomotor skills and application in the training process of means. The results of testing indicated their significant impact on psychomotor skills development.

The antioxidant properties of vegetable pectin fractions against intraluminal reactive oxygen species were elucidated in vitro in conjunction with their structural features. The pectin fractions were isolated using a simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.5, pepsin 0.5 g/L, 37°C, 4 h) from fresh white cabbage, carrot, onion, and sweet pepper. The fraction from onion was found to inhibit the production of superoxide radicals by inhibiting the xanthine oxidase. The high molecular weight of onion pectin and a large number of galactose residues in its side chains appeared to participate in interaction with xanthine oxidase. All the isolated pectic polysaccharides were found to be associated with protein (2–9%) and phenolics (0.5–0.7%) as contaminants; these contaminants were shown to be responsible for the antioxidant effect of vegetable pectin fractions against the hydroxyl and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals.

The aim of this research was to design a method of immobilization of high-purity human butyrylcholinesterase on the surface of gold nanoparticles preserving the activity of the enzyme. In order to achieve this aim, the method of fractionation and purification of human butyrylcholinesterase from plasma was modified. The synthesis of 15-nm gold nanoparticles was carried out by citrated method. A method of conjugation of the high-purity butyrylcholinesterase with gold nanoparticles was developed. It was found that the Immobilization of butyrylcholinesterase on the surface of gold nanoparticles resulted in a significant (to 23%) increase in the specific activity of the enzyme.

Two new 3,5-dihetarylsubstituted 1,2,4- oxadiazoles 8 a,b, including N-alkyl substituted carbazole and thiophene moieties, were synthesized as potential components of materials for organic electronics devices. Optical and electrochemical properties of all new compounds were investigated. On the basis of the experimental UV absorption data, the values of bandgap energies equal to 3.44 eV (8a) and 3.05 eV (8b) were determined. The values of their ionization potentials, HOMO levels (−5.62 eV for 8a, −5.46 eV – for 8b), as well as their electron affinity levels, LUMO levels (−2.2 eV for 8a, −2.4 eV – for 8b), were calculated from the results of electrochemical studies. The energy of the triplet excited states of 8 a,b was defined with the help of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), comprising 2.68 eV (8a) and 2.32 eV (8b), where the greatest value of this parameter was for the compound with a shorter conjugation chain.

The study addresses antihypertensive therapy in 60 hypothyroid patients with hypertension of different degrees. It is documented that 70% of hypertensive in patients with sub compensation of hypothyroidism have stage 3 hypertension. The efficacy of perindopril in these patients is 87,5%. The time necessary for blood pressure reduction is longer in patients with older age, severe hypertensions and lower thyroid status.

The dynamics of changes in spectra of oligosaccharide fragments formed during enzymatic degradation of plant pectins at low enzyme/substrate ratio was studied. It is shown that degradation of deesterified pectin molecules is a discrete and determined process manifested in establishment of a stable polysaccharide spectrum. It is noted that introduction of chemical modifications into the polysaccharide substrate structure preserves the discreteness of the polymer molecule fragmentation but changes the spectrum of formed oligosaccharide fragments. It is supposed that degradation is defined by the spatial (three-dimensional) organization of the polysaccharide molecule.

The tumour suppressor gene p53 is the most commonly mutated gene in solid tumours. Although less common in haematological malignancies, 10-15% of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) cases carry a p53 mutation. Recently, the compound P53-dependent reactivation and induction of massive apoptosis (PRIMA-1) has been shown to induce cytotoxic effects and apoptosis in human tumour cells by restoration of the transcriptional activity of mutated p53. This is believed to be mediated by a change in the conformation of mutated p53 protein, restoring DNA binding and activation of p53 target genes. We studied the effects of PRIMA-1 and commonly used anti-leukaemic drugs on B-CLL cells from 14 patients with and without hemizygous p53 deletion. Cells obtained from peripheral blood or bone marrow were exposed to PRIMA-1 and fludarabine alone or in combination. PRIMA-1 showed cytotoxic effects on B-CLL cells from samples with and without hemizygous p53 deletion. Furthermore, conventional B-CLL drugs were less effective in cell samples with hemizygous p53 deletion and the response depended on the size of the p53 deleted clone. Finally, we found evidence for synergistic and additive effects of PRIMA-1 in combination with fludarabine.

The p53 tumor suppressor protein is a transcription factor that responds to cellular stress. p53 regulates growth arrest, apoptosis, senescense, angiogenesis and DNA repair, mainly by activating and/or repressing transcription of specific target genes. Its central role in tumor development is supported by the frequent mutation or loss of the p53 gene in human tumors of different tissue origin. Furthermore, animal models have underscored p53’s key role in tumorigenesis and pointed to p53-induced apoptosis as a major mechanism for tumor suppression in vivo. Due to its role in the evolution of tumors and pivotal function in regulation of apoptosis, the p53 pathway is an important target for conventional and novel cancer therapy.

The Myc family of oncoproteins promote cell growth and are frequently overexpressed in human tumors. However, Myc can also trigger cell death by apoptosis. This is at least in part mediated via the ARF-p53 pathway. Myc activation leads to a selection for inactivation of ARF or p53, allowing cell survival and tumor progression. Restoration of p53-dependent apoptosis by various means is an attractive approach for new cancer therapy.

A physical and functional interaction between the Ca(2+)-binding protein Mts1 (S100A4) and the tumor suppressor p53 protein is shown here for the first time. We demonstrate that Mts1 binds to the extreme end of the C-terminal regulatory domain of p53 by several in vitro and in vivo approaches: co-immunoprecipitation, affinity chromatography, and far Western blot analysis. The Mts1 protein in vitro inhibits phosphorylation of the full-length p53 and its C-terminal peptide by protein kinase C but not by casein kinase II. The Mts1 binding to p53 interferes with the DNA binding activity of p53 in vitro and reporter gene transactivation in vivo, and this has a regulatory function. A differential modulation of the p53 target gene (p21/WAF, bax, thrombospondin-1, and mdm-2) transcription was observed upon Mts1 induction in tet-inducible cell lines expressing wild type p53. Mts1 cooperates with wild type p53 in apoptosis induction. Our data imply that the ability of Mts1 to enhance p53-dependent apoptosis might accelerate the loss of wild type p53 function in tumors. In this way, Mts1 can contribute to the development of a more aggressive phenotype during tumor progression.

To study the influence of chromatin condensation on the absorption spectra of nuclei stained with toluidine blue, DNA staining methods--which favour or prevent dye polymerization--were applied to the imprints of rat tissues that differed greatly in the density of chromatin packing. It is stated that all factors promoting dye polymerization cause a left shift of the spectra while the factors preventing it, a right one. It was found that condensation of the chromatin can raise prerequisites that both enhance and hinder polymerization, and that the final result depends on the staining method, the manner of chromatin folding, and the density of its packing.

The authors suggest a program of improving health services for patients suffering from epilepsy (the setting up of the Regional Epileptological Centre). The clinical material provided by 1350 patients with epilepsy is analyzed for cost and therapeutic efficacy of the conducted organizational measures. Improvement of the treatment and diagnostic work, upgrading of the patients' examination quality have been demonstrated. The economic efficiency has been computed.