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The article examines the situation of Tara uyezd and service people who lived in the town of Tara in the first third of the 18th century. The research relies on such archival materials as responses of officials of Tara uyezd who completed to Prof. G.F. Miller’s questionnaire, books and tables of Siberian prikaz on the servitors in Siberia, and materials from the Senate fund. The article provides data on the town of Tara and Tara uyezd in the 1730s. Tara had a near-border position. A large Oirat state –Dzungar Khanate – was located to the south of Tara, and noble Oirat nomads collected tribute from the Turkic population of the uyezd. The reforms of Peter I made profound changes in the social world of Siberia. In the first third of the 18th century, the composition of the uyezd’s population was significantly altered. A new social group raznochintsy was formed of the relatives of servitors and clergy, and a large part of Tara’s service people were transferred to the garrison regiments of Siberia and the Orenburg governorate. The conflict between Tara’s horse Cossacks and captain Yakov Cheredov is indicative and important for understanding the service in favor of the state at that time. The Cheredovs were a deep-rooted clan of Russian service people who had lived in Tara since its founding. The Cheredovs held a number of important offices in Tara, and many of them became Boyar scions and nobles. After the 1722 Tara Rebellion, in which the Cheredovs played a significant role, they lost their privileged position and became raznochintsy. The ‘old’ service people who were nobles, Boyar scions and Cossacks remained the main military force in Siberian uyezds after the reforms. However, their dependence on the state increased. New garrison regiments in the region were formed in the 1730s, mostly of ‘old’ service people.

Prediction of the melting temperatures of pure metals, their oxides, and complex iron-ore sinter is considered. A simple formula for the energy state of solids is obtained. Other microstructural factors may be represented in the additive form of the Hall–Petch law. Alternative factors characterizing the energy state of iron-ore sinter are established. Formulas are derived for predicting the temperatures at which melting begins and ends in such sinter.

Experimental, industrial, and computational data provide the basis for the hydrogas-dynamic theory of counterflow coke packing in blast furnaces and corresponding technology. The conversion from slag-irrigated model packing to counterflow coke packing in a blast furnace is considered. The types of residue and the motion of the material fluxes through the packing are classified. The operation of the coke packing in the blast furnace is determined in terms of the fluxes of metal, slag, residue, and gas filling the space between the coke particles.

Elements of a hydrodynamic theory of the coke packing in blast furnaces are developed, with practical applications. The static and dynamic characteristics of the slag and the coke packing are deter-mined. Regression analysis indicates the relative significance of the factors in establishing the irrigation intensity and density of coke in the packing and the hearth by slag. The formation of slag residue is also investigated in the presence external and internal sources of smelting slag and titanium (iron) slag. The optimal irrigation density of the coke packing by the slag is determined.

Physical analysis suggests an integral sintering characteristic Ksi, which may be used not only to assess batch preparation at a particular plant, since it includes the structural characteristics of the granules and the batch bed, but also for the analysis and optimization of sinter production.

At OAO Novolipetskii Metallurgicheskii Kombinat (NLMK), the introduction of a rotating granulation drum in combination with a plate granulator is considered, so as to improve sinter production on an AKM-312 machine.

Pile tests in the construction zone of the Shatura state regional power plant are discussed; these tests are being conducted in conformity with requirements of the ASTM standard recommended for use in many European countries. Procedural and construction features of the requirements of this standard are cited.

Characteristic features of the equipment used, and measurements taken during the testing of cast-in-place piles in accordance with Russian and American standards are examined.

The principle of operation of a gas generator that is to burn a porous charge of a solid fuel in the filtration regime of gaseous combustion products toward the cold side, i.e., in the direction of displacement of the combustion front, is described.

Reasons for laboratory misdiagnosis that is observed in general health care network (GHCN) and penitentiaries were studied. The clinical efficiency of the diagnosis of tuberculosis in the GHCN by the Ziehl-Neelsen method is largely determined by three major factors, each of which is fundamentally important in assessing the result. The first factor is the adequacy of making up a cohort of patients having the symptoms of productive cough in the course of 2-3 weeks or more who are to be examined for tuberculosis by laboratory studies. The second is the quality of a diagnostic material. The third is the quality of laboratory specialists' work. The paper shows it necessary to implement programs for the internal control and external assessment of the quality of laboratory studies and to optimize (centralize) the activities of laboratories under the conditions of a regional network.

The results of the detection and treatment of new pulmonary tuberculosis cases in 2006 were assessed in 15 subjects of the Russian Federation, supervised by the Central Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. As compared with 2005, in 2006 the proportion of bacteria-discharging individuals increased among the new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and ranged from 77.1% in the Oryol Region to 35.2% in the Astrakhan Region. The frequency of multidrug-resistant MBT among the new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (the expected frequency was 5%) showed a wide scatter and varied from 0.7% in the Republic of Ingushetia to 14.7% in that of Mariy El. The higher and lower percentages of patients receiving an effective course of chemotherapy, as shown by microscopy, were noted in 8 and 7 regions, respectively. Their scatter was 42.4% in the Nizhni Novgorod Region to 81.1% in the Republic of Mordovia. The efficiency of treatment, as evidenced by sputum culture, varied from 46.3% in the Nizhni Novgorod Region to 79.0% in the Republic of Mordovia. More than 3% of those who died from tuberculosis were recorded in 10 regions and more than 5% of those who discontinued a course of chemotherapy before the appointed time were notified in 8 regions. The cavity decay closure rate ranged from 36.3% in the Nizhni Novgorod Region to 52.2% in the Vladimir Region. Quarterly monitoring of the detection and treatment allows a precise registration of identified tuberculosis patients, objective assessment of the results of treatment, elucidation of reasons for ineffective chemotherapy, and corrections of a treatment process.

Lipases and/or esterases (hereinafter referred to as esterases) isolated from the wax moth (Galleria mellonella) were found to have a bacteriological action on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) H37Rv. Different types of raw esterase preparations (REP) were incubated with MBT at 37 degrees C for 18 hours, the incubate was seeded on the Finn-II solid medium or intraperitoneally injected into guinea pigs in a single dose of 100,000,000 bacteria. There was no growth of MBT in the medium within 8 weeks, some variants of REP causing a destruction of the medium for 3-7 days. This "toxic" effect on the lipid-containing Finn-II medium could be lowered by the simplest techniques for purifying esterases. In the experimental guinea pigs, a tuberculous process substantially regressed: autopsy of control animals at interval of 3-6 weeks after inoculation with native MBT showed the typical picture of progressive generalized tuberculosis; at the same time a visible pathology was not noted in the animals contaminated with MBT incubated with esterases. At week 7, control guinea pigs died; the onset of a tuberculous process was observed in experimental guinea pigs at week 8. An attempt to reveal the therapeutical effect of REP on guinea pigs with tuberculosis in a direct experiment failed. At the same time, there was a low toxicity of REP (in the used doses) for guinea pigs and B10.A(4R) mice. Based on their own findings and some data available in the literature, the authors have arrived at the following provisory conclusions: the studied REPs contain mammalian lysosomal lipase-type enzymes that determine the bacteriostatic and, perhaps, bacteriolytic effect of REP shown on MBT in vitro; there is evidence for promises of continued detailed studies of natural esterases for searching new antituberculous agents. A program of investigations of the studied and other natural esterases has been developed by taking into account the authors' developments and know-how. The study may be regarded as part of global unselected screening of biological and other materials for detecting new promising sources of drugs.

The authentic data on the drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be obtained only provided that standard laboratory procedures and the unified standardized method for determining the resistance are used along with a compulsory outside quality control over the performance of this test. The supervisory activities of the researchers of the Central Research Institute of Tuberculosis (CRIT), Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, made in some regions of Russia included standardization of methods and their implementation quality control allowed them to reveal and to correct main errors in drug resistance testing. In this connection, this made it to record the true level of M. tuberculosis resistance to essential antituberculous agents in the areas investigated by the researchers of CRIT. Analyzing the data on the drug resistance of M. tuberculosis in the above areas leads to the conclusion that 2000 was marked by rather high rates of primary drug resistance; nearly a fourth of all new and prior cases of pulmonary tuberculosis studied for its drug resistance were carriers of a M. tuberculosis resistant to at least one antituberculous agent.

The results of determination of drug medium depend on both individual cultural properties of the strains tested and the type of the medium used. The composition of a medium is of significance for some strains: the latter grow in any medium and are characterized by the same spectrum of resistance. However, most drug-resistant strains have higher feeding demands which are not fully met on the lyophilized Löwenstein-Jensen medium. The strains in the lyophilized medium show an incomplete spectrum of resistance and less grow than do those in freshly prepared Löwenstein-Yersen medium.

Comprehensive clinical, X-ray, cytochemical, morphological, biochemical, and immunological studies of 14 patients with caseous pneumonia have provided evidence that significant structural, metabolic, and functional disorders of mononuclear phagocytes (MNP) play a leading role in the pathogenesis of acute tuberculosis. Structural and metabolic disorders of macrophages and monocytes in patients with caseous pneumonia result from impaired mitochondrial oxidation and glycolysis, aggregation and latinization of the membranes of lysosomes, release of their contents into the cytosol with damages to intracellular structures and the cellular membrane itself. This is also suggested by a drastic rise in the production of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha, prostaglandins E2 in particular, in the supernatants of cultured monocytes (100 nM). This is determined as the membrane-damaging effect of MNP due to the toxic action of rapidly multiplying mycobacterial population not only in the lung, but even in blood. MNP structural and metabolic disturbances are an equivalent to their lowered functional activity, as evidenced by a considerable deficiency of synthesis of intracellular and secretory pools of interleukin I and by a fall in their migrational and adhesive activities, two thirds of macrophages having signs of dystrophy and cytolysis. On entering the specific inflammatory area of the lung, these cells abundantly disintegrate. Their destruction leads to the elaboration of enzymes, prostaglandins, and other biologically active agents, which promotes the occurrence of extensive caseously destructive changes and creates conditions for rapid multiplication of mycobacteria.

The authors suggest that animals and humans carry M. tuberculosis in S form. These mycobacteria are virulent, do not form conglomerates and represent biologically most potent form. The state of R-form M. tuberculosis results from their culturing on artificial culture media which fail to secure compatible conditions for cells. M. tuberculosis S-form is convenient for microbiological and molecular-genetic research. The authors offer a method of biological production of single M. tuberculosis in S form.

Microbial spectrum in patients with disorders of the upper respiratory tract consisted mainly of streptococci, staphylococci and pneumococci in 1991-1993, 1994 and later, respectively. Most specific for detection of nontuberculous flora was brushing with protecting agar plugs in combination with transport medium and anaerobic culturing. Direct immunofluorescence allows detection of antigens M. chlamydia in 29.4%, M. pneumoniae in 18.5% of cases. In diagnosis of tuberculosis the following new technologies were introduced: bacterioscopy with previous culturing of the material on liquid culture media followed by biological test and polymerase-chain reaction; determination of drug resistance based on nitrate reductase activity of M. tuberculosis indicating resistance of M. tuberculosis on liquid media in 4-7 days, dense egg media in 8-12 days, usage of Popesku medium enables correction of tuberculosis chemotherapy one month after the test initiation; M. tuberculosis identification using Western blot with monoclonal antibodies in some cases for 7 days.

The paper gives a comparative characterization of some unfavourable factors influencing antituberculous agents which are a part of dense egg and liquid media in order to determine the drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The liquid media are more preferable primarily, mainly by preserving the activity of antituberculous agents to set accelerated methods for the detection of the spectrum of and the resistance of clinical mycobacterial isolates.

Hyperimmunization of mice and rabbits with surface (whole cells) and complex (ultrasound disintegrants) with the MAIS complex Mycobacterium antigens induced a humoral immune response which was largely aimed against cross-reacting than "unique" Mycobacterium antigens. Infection of BALB/c mice and rabbits with M. avium induced a humoral immune response which was chiefly against cross-antigenic Mycobacterium determinants. A series of consecutive immunochemical procedures were used to isolate from M. avium antiserum the antibody reacting with the antigenic determinants 18, 20, 24, 27, 39, 68, 94, kDa. Mab to the antigenic determinant 79 kDa of M. avium, which belong to the IgG class and unreacting with antigens of other Mycobacterium types were obtained. The antibodies isolated from hyperimmune serum and Mabs were used in the competitive EIA to determine antimycobacterial antibodies in man, mice, and rabbits. With Mab, positive results were obtained in 75% of M. avium-infected mice, 63.6% of rabbits and 63.6% of patients with M. avium infection (with 5.0% false positive results in humans). With antiserum, 83.3% of positive results were obtained in mice (with 10.0% of false positive results), 81.8 in rabbits (with 25% of false positive results) and 90.9% in M. avium-infected persons (with 30% of false positive results).

Tinctural specificity was studied for various mycobacterial species (M. tuberculosis Erdman TMC 107, M. tuberculosis Academia, M. Bovis Bovinus-8, M. Bovis BCG Russian, M. Avium Avium-53) subjected to staining according to Ziehl-Neelsen, Boy (fluorescent staining), Gram and Romanovsky-Gimze. The cultures were studied on Pavlovsky's continuous medium under natural ageing. The authors tested adequacy of diverse bacterioscopic methods for registration of all the cells in the mycobacterial population. Mycobacterial morphological and tinctural features are shown to be dependent on the culture duration and species. Non-conventional Gram's and Romanovsky-Gimze techniques were able to identify L-form granular balls and non-acid-fast coccus-like forms. The presence and the number of mycobacterial changed forms are species-specific and related to the culture duration.

Antigens to M. tuberculosis in culture fluid of sputum samples were compared to bacterioscopy and inoculation results for 64 new-onset cases of tuberculosis and 60 chronics with bronchitis. The authors used diagnostic preparations of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to M. tuberculosis. The use of the above preparations in the enzyme immunoassay reduced the time of M. tuberculosis detection in the patients' sputum and increased the frequency of the bacteria registration against standard methods of bacterioscopy and inoculation.

The paper presents methods and results of a study of radiation-physical characteristics of inhibitory radiation beam with the Grenz energy of 15MeV generated by an electron linear accelerator LUE-15M. Special emphasis is laid on primary dosimetric information used for the planning of radiotherapy: depth doses, beam profiles, dose functions of a collimated beam. It has been shown that in general the accelerator meets the requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission. General error in the focal absorbed dose at the expense of variable parameters of the accelerator was evaluated. It does not exceed +/- 3.5%.

The notion advanced at the Fifth Scientific and Technical Conference on Nuclear Radio Electronics in 1961 of creating a centralized facility for the measurement and registration of any and all spectrometric information in a special laboratory [1] has “come of age,” having begun to materialize into a manifest and feasible reality. Furthermore, both in the Soviet Union and in other countries we already find examples of such facilities that have been completed or are in the process of being built, in most cases on a computerized basis [2–11].

The proposed performance-curve tracing network (Fig. 1) represents a modification with considerable simplification of an instrument designed to record the static characteristics of semiconductor devices such as conventional and tunnel diodes, p-n-p and n-p-n transistor triodes, and other elements. In the testing of triodes a family of two performance curves is displayed on the screen of an EO-7 or similar oscilloscope (Fig. 2a), showing the dependence of the collector current on the collector voltage as the latter is regulated from zero to 40 V for two values of the base current. These values may be varied in pairs, setting the following gradations: 0–50, 100–200, 300–400, 500–600 μA, as well as 0 separately, or regulated smoothly from zero to 800 μA. Diodes are tested with a regulated current from 0 to 40 μA or, when the button K1 is pressed and the tumbler switch T2 is turned on, with a regulated reverse voltage from 100 to 300 V.

In multichannel time-base spectrometers, which normally operate in the off-duty mode, the access time to main memory becomes important. If this time is greater than the channel on-time, distortions can occur in the registered spectrum [1]. Moreover, such systems require special circuit strategies in order for the counting circuits to be able to “catch up” in the time allotted to writing in the given channel. For spectrometers of this type a wise approach is to use prestorage buffer devices of the cumulative or derandomizing type [1–2]. In buffer systems utilizing half-current ferrites [1] difficulties arise in connection with commutation of the currents and the creation of proper current-holding conditions.

The main memory used in the FLAN measurement and registration center is the magnetic drum of a standard electronic digital computer. This storage system has a number of substantial advantages over other types of storage devices: It permits continuous monitoring of the information store, it is comparatively low in cost and economic to maintain, and it requires a minimum of electronic circuitry. However, the direct use of drum memory for the registration of events randomly distributed in time is highly inefficient due to the large access time (10 msec), i.e., the time to scan and locate the address characterizing a given event.

Triggers assembled from tunnel-diode—transistor pairs offer the possibility of obtaining acceptably high voltage levels for the control of various logic networks, and they are invested with a good response time and high reliability. As a rule, triggers of this type do not have a counting input.