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The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship between the receptive language, and the index of non-verbal intelligence and the level of severity of autistic disorders in primary-school-aged children with Autism spectrum disorder. One of the main areas influenced by autistic disorders is communication. Therefore, the study of the language abilities of such children and factors that affect them provides a better approach to the therapy and education. The sample included 50 children aged 7–11 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Children were tested using the KORABLIK method (basic linguistic skills), the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II) or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children ― Third Edition (WISC-III) (non-verbal intelligence), the Autism Diagnosis Observation Schedule ― Second Edition (ADOS-II) (autistic traits). The results support the hypothesis of the relationship between receptive language skills, the index of non-verbal intelligence, and symptoms of autism. The severity of autistic traits is negatively associated with some phonological and lexical levels of the receptive speech, as well as with understanding of discourse. The non-verbal intelligence index is positively associated with speech comprehension at all levels. A specific feature of receptive language in children with Autism spectrum disorder aged 7–11 years is the uneven development, which is associated with the severity of autistic traits and is not associated with the intelligence level.

The purpose of this article is to develop a modern information system for mass notification. The system must take into account the disadvantages of all existing systems. The aim has been achieved by the development and implementation of the program complex of an algorithm for construction the effective evacuation plans based on the client-server architecture. The complex, in addition to the server and client parts, also uses the Google Maps services. Today, a lot of information systems for the mass notification of the population have been developed. An analytical review of some of them revealed a number of disadvantages related to the efficiency of the systems, the ability to effectively distribute the population to evacuation points or shelters. A feature of the program is an innovative approach for calculation of an effective evacuation plan for each victim, which has not been presented previously. To find an effective path, three parameters are important, i.e., distance; the available spaciousness of the emergency shelter; and speed. Thanks to the algorithm, it is possible to calculate the optimal path for each victim individually, adjusting the distance depending on the speed and fullness of the shelter. The path found will not always be the shortest, but it will be effective for the uniform filling in of the shelters. The effectiveness of the algorithm is presented in the models we programmed in the AnyLogic program. The use of the evacuation model was analyzed using both a short path and the developed algorithm to calculate the most efficient path. The simulated situations show the possibility of saving more people.

This chapter focuses on the common socio-psychological features and some ethnic features of cultural life. The intensity and variety of cultural construction in Moldavia, state policy in the cultural sphere, and the Soviet government's systematic attention to education and the inculcation of correct values in society allegedly yield a significant and real social effect. Ethnosociological research in the republic confirms that the peoples of Moldavia, like all Soviet nationalities, have common life goals and desires. The structure not only of the social but also of the personal interests of the peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is fundamentally the same, which shows the unity and the common social content of culture, for all the variety of its national forms. Apparently, people of different nationalities agree on what the society needs and what man needs. Both Moldavians and Russians, as well as other peoples of the republic, share the same sociopolitical values and root for the same interests. Apparently, it is not accident that the majority of them saw as problems of primary importance the maintenance of peace and strengthening the country's defense, the ideological training of the people, and the strengthening of discipline.

The article presents information on most pressing problem is that of developing a correct methodological approach to the analysis of social phenomena. In the first place, it is necessary to obtain a real idea of the social structure of the population. People, as individual members of society, display social differences from one another. Even biological characteristics can be societal in human beings, can have social significance and stand in a definite relationship to socioeconomic position and interests. People join together in social groups, large and small, on the basis of their positions and interests. In order to form a judgment as to the development of social processes, it is necessary to have specific information about such groups concerning their similarities and differences, socio-economically and in respect to culture and daily life, which objectively determine psychological interests, values, and requirements. It is common knowledge that we have not yet developed a complete and rigorous theory of social structure. There is nothing surprising about this. It reflects, aside from other factors, the special nature of the development of the social sciences in our country. It is no secret that the social problems actively studied in the late 1920s and early 1930s did not enjoy particular prestige in our country for a long period thereafter. Characteristic of this is the fact that the problem of the social nature of collective farms, which is important for the understanding of the social structure of the society, was very actively discussed only during the initial stage of the collective-farm system.

Background: Thalamocortical functional and structural connectivity alterations may contribute to clinical phenotype of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). As previous studies focused mainly on thalamofrontal connections in ASD, we comprehensively investigated the thalamic functional networks and white matter pathways projecting also to temporal, parietal, occipital lobes and their associations with core and co-occurring conditions of this population., Methods: A total of 38 children (19 with ASD) underwent magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral assessment. Functional and structural scans were processed to analyze between-group thalamic connectivity differences and their relationships to measurements of autistic traits and language abilities., Results: No functional differences were found between groups across 20 networks in each hemisphere. However, we showed that the diffusion properties of thalamocortical pathways projecting to the right and left temporal lobes were disrupted in children with ASD. Additionally, there was a significant association between diffusion differences of thalamotemporal tracts and severity of autistic traits., Conclusions: Our findings on altered thalamotemporal structural but not functional connectivity contribute to the understanding of white matter organization of thalamocortical pathways in children with ASD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Some studies have hypothesized that atypical neural synchronization at the delta frequency band in the auditory cortex is associated with phonological and language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is still poorly understood. This study investigated this neural activity and addressed the relationships between auditory response and behavioral measures of children with ASD., Methods: We used magnetoencephalography and individual brain models to investigate 2 Hz Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR) in 20 primary-school-aged children with ASD and 20 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls., Results: First, we found a between-group difference in the localization of the auditory response, so as the topology of 2 Hz ASSR was more superior and posterior in TD children when comparing to children with ASD. Second, the power of 2 Hz ASSR was reduced in the ASD group. Finally, we observed a significant association between the amplitude of neural response and language skills in children with ASD., Conclusions: The study provided the evidence of reduced neural response in children with ASD and its relation to language skills., Significance: These findings may inform future interventions targeting auditory and language impairments in ASD population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflict to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

One of the candidate genes related to language variability in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the contactin-associated protein-like 2 gene (CNTNAP2), a member of the Neurexin family. However, due to the different assessment tools used, it is unknown whether the polymorphisms of the CNTNAP2 gene are linked to structural language skills or more general communication abilities. A total of 302 youth aged 7 to 18 years participated in the present study: 131 verbal youth with ASD (62 female), 130 typically developing (TD) youth (64 female), and 41 unaffected siblings (US) of youth with ASD (25 female). Blood samples were collected to obtain genomic DNA and processed by the Rutgers University Cell and Data Repository or using standard protocols (Gentra Puregene Blood DNA extraction kit; Qiagen). Language and verbal communication skills were screened with the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental-4 (CELF-4) and Vineland-II Communication domain, subsequently. The results showed that the polymorphism of CNTNAP2 (SNP rs2710102) was related to structural language abilities, such that participants carrying the A-allele had lower language skills in comparison to the G-allele homozygotes. No relationship was found between the polymorphism of CNTNAP2 and more general communication abilities. Although the study revealed genetic mechanisms that are associated with CELF-4 measures but not Vineland-II in youth with ASD, follow-up studies are needed that will include measures of language and communication that are less correlated to each other as well as will include a group of minimally and/or non-verbal individuals with ASD., (© 2024 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The neurobiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is hypothetically related to the imbalance between neural excitation (E) and inhibition (I). Different studies have revealed that alpha-band (8-12 Hz) activity in magneto- and electroencephalography (MEG and EEG) may reflect E and I processes and, thus, can be of particular interest in ASD research. Previous findings indicated alterations in event-related and baseline alpha activity in different cortical systems in individuals with ASD, and these abnormalities were associated with core and co-occurring conditions of ASD. However, the knowledge on auditory alpha oscillations in this population is limited. This MEG study investigated stimulus-induced (Event-Related Desynchronization, ERD) and baseline alpha-band activity (both periodic and aperiodic) in the auditory cortex and also the relationships between these neural activities and behavioral measures of children with ASD. Ninety amplitude-modulated tones were presented to two groups of children: 20 children with ASD (5 girls, M age = 10.03, SD = 1.7) and 20 typically developing controls (9 girls, M age = 9.11, SD = 1.3). Children with ASD had a bilateral reduction of alpha-band ERD, reduced baseline aperiodic-adjusted alpha power, and flattened aperiodic exponent in comparison to TD children. Moreover, lower raw baseline alpha power and aperiodic offset in the language-dominant left auditory cortex were associated with better language skills of children with ASD measured in formal assessment. The findings highlighted the alterations of E / I balance metrics in response to basic auditory stimuli in children with ASD and also provided evidence for the contribution of low-level processing to language difficulties in ASD., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have co-occurring language impairments and some of these autism-specific language difficulties are also present in their non-autistic first-degree relatives. One of the possible neural mechanisms associated with variability in language functioning is alterations in cortical gamma-band oscillations, hypothesized to be related to neural excitation and inhibition balance., Methods: We used a high-density 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) to register brain response to speech stimuli in a large sex-balanced sample of participants: 125 youth with ASD, 121 typically developing (TD) youth, and 40 unaffected siblings (US) of youth with ASD. Language skills were assessed with Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals., Results: First, during speech processing, we identified significantly elevated gamma power in ASD participants compared to TD controls. Second, across all youth, higher gamma power was associated with lower language skills. Finally, the US group demonstrated an intermediate profile in both language and gamma power, with nonverbal IQ mediating the relationship between gamma power and language skills., Limitations: We only focused on one of the possible neural contributors to variability in language functioning. Also, the US group consisted of a smaller number of participants in comparison to the ASD or TD groups. Finally, due to the timing issue in EEG system we have provided only non-phase-locked analysis., Conclusions: Autistic youth showed elevated gamma power, suggesting higher excitation in the brain in response to speech stimuli and elevated gamma power was related to lower language skills. The US group showed an intermediate pattern of gamma activity, suggesting that the broader autism phenotype extends to neural profiles., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Alpha-band (8-12 Hz) event-related desynchronization (ERD) or a decrease in alpha power in electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG and MEG) reflects the involvement of a neural tissue in information processing. It is known that most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in information processing, and, thus, investigation of alpha oscillations is of particular interest in this population. Previous studies have demonstrated alterations in this neural activity in individuals with ASD; however, little is known about alpha ERD during simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual stimuli in children with and without ASD. As alpha oscillations are intimately related to attention, and attention deficit is one of the common co-occurring conditions of ASD, we predict that children with ASD can have altered alpha ERD in one of the sensory domains. In the present study, we used MEG to investigate alpha ERD in groups of 20 children with ASD and 20 age-matched typically developing controls. Simple amplitude-modulated tones were presented together with a fixation cross appearing on the screen. The results showed that children with ASD had a bilateral reduction in alpha-band ERD in the auditory but not visual cortex. Moreover, alterations in the auditory cortex were associated with a higher presence of autistic traits measured in behavioral assessment.

The core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are impairments in social interaction/communication and the presence of stereotyped and repetitive behaviour. The amygdala and hippocampus are involved in core functions in the "social brain" and, thus, may be of particular interest in ASD. Previous studies demonstrated inconsistent results, revealing both increased and reduced volume of these brain structures in individuals with ASD. In this study, we investigated the grey and white matter volumes of amygdala and hippocampus in primary-school-aged children with and without ASD. Also, we assessed the relationships between the volume of brain structures and behavioural measures in children with ASD. A total of 36 children participated in the study: 18 children with ASD (13 boys, age range 8.01-14.01 years, mean age (M age ) = 10.02, standard deviation (SD) = 1.76) and 18 age- and sex-matched typically developing controls (13 boys, age range 7.06-12.03 years, M age  = 10.00, SD = 1.38). The whole-brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was applied to acquire T1 images for each child. The results showed a bilateral reduction in grey matter volume of amygdala and hippocampus in children with ASD, but no difference was found in white matter volume. Importantly, pathological reduction in grey matter volume of amygdala was associated with lower language skills and more severe autistic traits; also, a reduced grey matter volume of the left hippocampus was related to lower language skills in the ASD group., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by social interaction and communication deficits, repetitive behavior and often by co-occurring conditions such as language and non-verbal IQ development delays. Previous studies reported that those behavioral abnormalities can be associated with corpus callosum organization. However, little is known about the specific differences in white matter structure of the corpus callosum parts in children with ASD and TD peers and their relationships to core and co-occurring symptoms of ASD. The aim of the study was to investigate the volumetric and microstructural characteristics of the corpus callosum parts crucially involved in social, language, and non-verbal IQ behavior in primary-school-aged children with ASD and to assess the relationships between these characteristics and behavioral measures. 38 children (19 with ASD and 19 typically developing (TD) controls) were scanned using diffusion-weighted MRI and assessed with behavioral tests. The tractography of the corpus callosum parts were performed using Quantitative Imaging Toolkit software; diffusivity and volumetric measurements were extracted for the analysis. In the ASD group, fractional anisotropy (FA) was decreased across the supplementary motor area and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and axial diffusivity (AD) was reduced across each of the corpus callosum parts in comparison to the TD group. Importantly, the AD decrease was related to worse language skills and more severe autistic traits in individuals with ASD. The microstructure of the corpus callosum parts differs between children with and without ASD. Abnormalities in white matter organization of the corpus callosum parts are associated with core and co-occurring symptoms of ASD., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Language impairment is comorbid in most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but its neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. Some studies hypothesize that the atypical low-level sensory perception in the auditory cortex accounts for the abnormal language development in these children. One of the potential non-invasive measures of such low-level perception can be the cortical gamma-band oscillations registered with magnetoencephalography (MEG), and 40 Hz Auditory Steady-State Response (40 Hz ASSR) is a reliable paradigm for eliciting auditory gamma response. Although there is research in children with and without ASD using 40 Hz ASSR, nothing is known about the relationship between this auditory response in children with ASD and their language abilities measured directly in formal assessment. In the present study, we used MEG and individual brain models to investigate 40 Hz ASSR in primary-school-aged children with and without ASD. It was also used to assess how the strength of the auditory response is related to language abilities of children with ASD, their non-verbal IQ, and social functioning. A total of 40 children were included in the study. The results demonstrated that 40 Hz ASSR was reduced in the right auditory cortex in children with ASD when comparing them to typically developing controls. Importantly, our study provides the first evidence of the association between 40 Hz ASSR in the language-dominant left auditory cortex and language comprehension in children with ASD. This link was domain-specific because the other brain-behavior correlations were non-significant., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Language impairment is comorbid in most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but its neural basis is poorly understood. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the present study provides the whole-brain comparison of both volume- and surface-based characteristics between groups of children with and without ASD and investigates the relationships between these characteristics in language-related areas and the language abilities of children with ASD measured with standardized tools. A total of 36 school-aged children participated in the study: 18 children with ASD and 18 age- and sex-matched typically developing controls. The results revealed that multiple regions differed between groups of children in gray matter volume, gray matter thickness, gyrification, and cortical complexity (fractal dimension). White matter volume and sulcus depth did not differ between groups of children in any region. Importantly, gray matter thickness and gyrification of language-related areas were related to language functioning in children with ASD. Thus, the results of the present study shed some light on the structural brain abnormalities associated with language impairment in ASD., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Recent studies have revealed that gamma-band oscillatory and transient evoked potentials may change with age during childhood. It is hypothesized that these changes can be associated with a maturation of GABAergic neurotransmission and, subsequently, the age-related changes of excitation-inhibition balance in the neural circuits. One of the reliable paradigms for investigating these effects in the auditory cortex is 40 Hz Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR), where participants are presented with the periodic auditory stimuli. It is known that such stimuli evoke two types of responses in magnetoencephalography (MEG)-40 Hz steady-state gamma response (or 40 Hz ASSR) and auditory evoked response called sustained Event-Related Field (ERF). Although several studies have been conducted in children, focusing on the changes of 40 Hz ASSR with age, almost nothing is known about the age-related changes of the sustained ERF to the same periodic stimuli and their relationships with changes in the gamma strength. Using MEG, we investigated the association between 40 Hz steady-state gamma response and sustained ERF response to the same stimuli and also their age-related changes in the group of 30 typically developing 7-to-12-year-old children. The results revealed a tight relationship between 40 Hz ASSR and ERF, indicating that the age-related increase in strength of 40 Hz ASSR was associated with the age-related decrease of the amplitude of ERF. These effects were discussed in the light of the maturation of the GABAergic system and excitation-inhibition balance development, which may contribute to the changes in ASSR and ERF., (© 2022 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The purpose of the present research was to comprehensively assess the language abilities of Russian primary-school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), varying in non-verbal IQ, at all linguistic levels (phonology, lexicon, morphosyntax, and discourse) in production and comprehension. Yet, the influence of such non-language factors as children's age, the severity of autistic traits, and non-verbal IQ on language functioning was studied. Our results indicate a high variability of language skills in children with ASD (from normal to impaired) which is in line with the previous studies. Interestingly, the number of children with normal language abilities was related to the linguistic levels: according to more complex morphosyntax and discourse tests, fewer children with ASD were within the normal range unlike the results in simpler phonological and lexical tests. Importantly, we found that language abilities were best predicted by non-verbal IQ but were independent from age and the severity of autistic traits. The findings support the claim that formal language assessment of children with ASD needs to include all linguistic levels, from phonology to discourse, for helping speech-language therapists to choose an appropriate therapy target., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Abnormal language development in both expressive and receptive domains occurs in most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), although the language deficit is not a core symptom of ASD. However, previous studies disagree on the difference in the degree of impairment between expressive and receptive language in ASD. Existing research has concentrated on vocabulary and 'global expressive and receptive language', often using parental reports for language assessment. Moreover, most of these studies have focused on toddlers and preschoolers with ASD, whereas data from school-aged children with ASD are very limited. At the same time, the age of children might account for the inconsistencies across publications on expressive-receptive language difference in children with ASD., Aims: The goal of the study was to directly compare the expressive and receptive language abilities of Russian primary-school-aged children with ASD (7-11 years old) at the levels of vocabulary, morphosyntax, and discourse., Methods: 82 children with ASD participated in language testing. We used tests from the Russian Child Language Assessment Battery in order to assess vocabulary, morphosyntax, and discourse in expressive and receptive domains., Results: Our results revealed different expressive and receptive patterns, depending on the linguistic level and tests complexity. Importantly, we showed that children's non-verbal IQ partly accounted for the difference between production and comprehension abilities., Conclusions: The expressive-better-than-receptive pattern in language has been considered by some authors as the unique hallmark of ASD. However, several studies, including our own, show that this is not a universal characteristic of ASD. We also revealed that expressive and receptive language patterns differed depending on the linguistic level, children's non-verbal IQ, and assessment tools., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study investigates how phonological neighborhood density (PND) affects word production and recognition in 4-to-6-year-old Russian children in comparison to adults. Previous experiments with English-speaking adults showed that a dense neighborhood facilitated word production but inhibited recognition whereas a sparse neighborhood inhibited production but facilitated recognition. Importantly, these effects are not universal because a reverse PND pattern was found in Spanish-speaking adults. Probably, PND effects depend on the morphological properties of language.This study focuses on PND effects in word production and recognition in terms of facilitation and inhibition in Russian. Our results are consistent with those in Spanish: Russian-speaking adults produced words with dense neighborhoods more slowly and recognized them faster than words with sparse neighborhoods. Russian children showed the same PND effect in recognition and no effect was found in production. The findings support the hypothesis that PND effects in word production and recognition are influenced by the morphological system of language.

APOBEC3H (A3H) is a member of the APOBEC3 subfamily of DNA cytosine deaminases that are important for innate immune defense and have been implicated in cancer biogenesis. To understand the structural basis for A3H biochemical function, we determined a high-resolution structure of human A3H and performed extensive biochemical analysis. The 2.49 Å crystal structure reveals a uniquely long C-terminal helix 6 (h6), a disrupted β5 strand of the canonical five-stranded β-sheet core, and a long loop 1 around the Zn-active center. Mutation of a loop 7 residue, W115, disrupted the RNA-mediated dimerization of A3H yielding an RNA-free monomeric form that still possessed nucleic acid binding and deaminase activity. A3H expressed in HEK293T cells showed RNA dependent HMW complex formation and RNase A-dependent deaminase activity. A3H has a highly positively charged surface surrounding the Zn-active center, and multiple positively charged residues within this charged surface play an important role in the RNA-mediated HMW formation and deaminase inhibition. Furthermore, these positively charged residues affect subcellular localization of A3H between the nucleus and cytosol. Finally, we have identified multiple residues of loop 1 and 7 that contribute to the overall deaminase activity and the methylcytosine selectivity.

The catalytic activity of human cytidine deaminase APOBEC3B (A3B) has been correlated with kataegic mutational patterns within multiple cancer types. The molecular basis of how the N-terminal non-catalytic CD1 regulates the catalytic activity and consequently, biological function of A3B remains relatively unknown. Here, we report the crystal structure of a soluble human A3B-CD1 variant and delineate several structural elements of CD1 involved in molecular assembly, nucleic acid interactions and catalytic regulation of A3B. We show that (i) A3B expressed in human cells exists in hypoactive high-molecular-weight (HMW) complexes, which can be activated without apparent dissociation into low-molecular-weight (LMW) species after RNase A treatment. (ii) Multiple surface hydrophobic residues of CD1 mediate the HMW complex assembly and affect the catalytic activity, including one tryptophan residue W127 that likely acts through regulating nucleic acid binding. (iii) One of the highly positively charged surfaces on CD1 is involved in RNA-dependent attenuation of A3B catalysis. (iv) Surface hydrophobic residues of CD1 are involved in heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) binding to A3B. The structural and biochemical insights described here suggest that unique structural features on CD1 regulate the molecular assembly and catalytic activity of A3B through distinct mechanisms., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

The authors carried out a comparative analysis of the incidence rate of cerebrovascular complications following coronary artery bypass grafting performed using either a differentiated approach to surgical policy depending on the findings of epiaortic ultrasonographic scanning or the standard conventional approach. A total of 3,454 operations of coronary artery bypass grafting were performed. All patients were divided into two groups. Patients of the Study Group (n=765) were subjected to obligatory intraoperative epiaortic scanning, with the variant of further surgical intervention depending on the obtained findings of the examination. The Control Group patients (n=2,689) underwent standard coronary artery bypass grafting in the conditions of artificial circulation (AC). In the Study Group patients, depending on the degree and localization of the atherosclerotic lesion of the aorta, determined by the findings of epiaortic scanning, one of the following techniques of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was chosen: cases with no lesion were managed by CABG with AC (585 patients); a local solitary lesion was managed by altering the site of cannulation and application of the clamp (92 patients) or by the operation according to the 'single clamp' technique (43 patients); cases of manifested atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta were treated by the 'on-pump beating-heart' technique in the conditions of AC without placing clamps (27 patients); cases of massive involvement of the ascending aorta and aortic arch were managed by CABG performed according to the 'no-touch aorta' technique (18 patients). The total mortality rate amounted to 1.1%. Thirty-three (0.96%) patients in the postoperative period were found to have ischaemic stroke. The mortality rate in the Control Group amounted to 1.4% and that in the Study Group equalled 0.3%, with the number of cases of ischaemic strokes amounting to 33 (1.4%) and 0, respectively. Perioperative infarction was diagnosed in 16 (0.6%) cases in the Control Group and in 5 (0.7%) patients in the group treated using the differentiated approach. A conclusion was drawn that the differentiated approach to choosing the technique of CABG based on the findings obtained by means of epiaortic scanning was associated with a statistically significant decrease in both the number of ischaemic strokes and the mortality rate after CABG operations.

Aim: To study spontaneous chemotaxis-, phagocytosis-, and proteinkinase C-mediated respiratory splash (RS) of neutrophils and monocytes in colchicin-untreated patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF)., Material and Methods: Of 17 FMF patients, 8 ones were examined during the attack, 9 patients--in fever-free period. Spontaneous and induced RS of peripheral blood neutrophils and monocytes was investigated with quantitative flow-cytofluorimetric method., Results: Compared to healthy donors, RS is characterized with activation of both spontaneous and induced production of free radicals. The activity and intensity of the RS in FMF was low in the attack vs in the attack-free period but monocytes population has a stable high activity of the RS., Conclusion: Activation of neutrophilic RS in FMF patients is characterized by periodicity the direction of which is opposite to induced monocyte activation in the attack and in attack-free interval.

Results of surgical treatment of 346 patients with cancer of the stomach are presented. All the patients underwent extended D2 and D3 lymphadenectomy. Up-to-date aspects of surgical treatment of stomach cancer, including intraoperative staging of cancer, spectrum of surgeries, their technical features, postoperative complications, lethality are outlined. Extended lymphadenectomy increases insignificantly time of surgery, rate of postoperative complications, postoperative lethality compared with standard surgeries in cancer of the stomach.

Clinical and instrumental-laboratory investigations have been conducted in 372 patients with chronic antral gastritis (CAG, n = 131), diffuse gastritis (DG, n = 108) and ulcer disease (UD, n = 135). Immunomodulators tactivin and levamisol were added to standard treatment of 75 CAG, 63 DG and 85 UD patients. Healing of the lesions was observed, on the average, on the treatment day 24.3 +/- 0.5 and 18.4 +/- 0.6 in the standard treatment and with the added immunomodulator, respectively. Adjuvant levamisol diminished the number of recurrences of chronic gastritis and UD.

Vegetovascular disorders are obligatory and even leading clinical manifestations of chronic gastrointestinal diseases. Physiotherapy in combination with psychotherapy produce a normalizing effect on functional-morphological condition of the gastrointestinal organs, correct alterations in the neuropsychic sphere and autonomic nervous system.

The results of surgical treatment in 120 patients with cancer of the stomach have been analyzed. Metastatic involvement in all groups of lymphatic nodes was revealed in 68.3% cases, retroperitoneal metastases were detected in 46 patients (38.3%). 38 subtotal resections of the stomach and 82 gastrectomies with retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy R2 and R3 were performed. Esophagojejunoanastomosis end-to-end with a loop excluded by Roux was applied in 110 patients and esophagoduodenoanastomosis--in 10 patients. Insufficiency of esophagointestinal anastomosis was revealed in 3 patients. The rate of complications was 29.2%, lethality--8.3%. High rate of postoperative complications and lethality were explained by initially severe conditions of the patients (61%) and by complicated forms of gastric cancer in 6 patients. Improvement of early results of surgical interventions lies in the usage of antibacterial prophylaxis, preventive intravenous introductions of 5-fluorouracil, adequate drainage of the abdominal cavity, careful preparation and ligation in the course of the operation.

Clinicoendoscopic and immunological evaluation of periodic disease patients shows that the disease-related inflammation of the colon is pathogenetically coupled with secretory IgA hypoproduction and abnormal intestinal eubiotic microflora. These facts should be allowed for when making differential diagnosis between periodic disease and gastrointestinal inflammations.

The authors analyze the laboratory and instrumental data obtained before and after single administration of leeches. Demonstrate that the animal's saliva corrects the coagulation properties of the circulating blood; inhibits platelet aggregation; that it may be used for blood letting; possesses hypotensive and anti-sclerotic properties; improves myocardial supply and its contractility. Based on a large clinical material the authors provide evidence for advisability of the use of hirudotherapy in patients suffering from coronary heart disease, essential hypertension, atherosclerosis, chronic cer pulmonale, and circulatory decompensation.

The authors describe a rare case of amyloidosis in a female patient suffering from periodic disease (PD) for 18 years without any clinico-laboratory signs of renal impairment but with marked clinical, (malabsorption, cachexia), endoscopic, x-ray and other manifestations of gastrointestinal amyloidosis. This case is of interest since patients suffering from amyloidosis due to PB develop malabsorption very rarely, namely in 2-3% of cases. As a rule, it develops in patients with pronounced chronic renal failure on hemodialysis or with a history of kidney transplantation. In this particular case, the patient demonstrated selective marked damage to the gastrointestinal tract, with the kidneys remaining practically intact. A possibility of the indicated variety of amyloidosis should be considered in specification of the genesis of persistent diarrhea in PB patients.

The reported and the authors' data are provided on the pathogenesis, morphofunctional characteristics and clinical manifestations of acute and chronic gastroenteropathies in patients suffering from periodic disease with and without amyloidosis. Under discussion is the significance of changes in the gastrointestinal tract for the diagnosis of periodic disease, its association with other diseases and early recognition of amyloidosis.

Neutral glycolipids of blood constituted four main fractions both in healthy persons and in patients with hypertension. An increase in di- and trihexosylceramides in blood plasma and in monohexosylceramides from erythrocytes occurred simultaneously with elevation of total blood glycolipids in hypertension.