D. A. Kupriyanov

Antitumor effects of the combination of magnetohydrodynamic thermochemotherapy and magnetic resonance tomography

Fe3O4 nanoparticles were coated with a layer of citric acid, forming coordination bonds between citrate ions and iron ions. The resulting aqueous citrate ferrite colloid was used as a T2-weighted MRI negative contrasting agent. Sequential i.v. doses of citrate ferrite and Magnevist led to increases in MRI image contrast for 40 h and brightness for 30 min; scanning using a Bruker Biospec BC 70/30 USR biospectrotomograph yielded enhanced MRI images. This enhancement of MRI images was used to monitor oncogenesis during magnetohydrodynamic thermochemotherapy (MT) of mammary adenocarcinoma Ca 755 in female C57Bl/6j mice. Dextran ferrite colloid containing cyclophosphamide was tested as a magnetically directed antitumor agent using MT. Treatment of non-infiltrating tumors of volume ≈ 30 mm3 with six sessions of MT each lasting 30 min at 46°C led to 40% tumor regression and 300% increases in survival time. Treatment of infiltrating tumors of volume ≈ 300 mm3 in the same conditions yielded a 200% increase in survival time.

Vegetation dynamics and fire history at the southern boundary of the forest vegetation zone in European Russia during the middle and late Holocene

Climate and human activity affected significantly the Eurasian on the forest vegetation zone through the Holocene. This paper presents new multi-proxy records of environmental changes at the southern boundary of the mixed coniferous broadleaved forest zone in the east-central part of the East European Plain during the middle and late Holocene. Palaeoecological analyses of a peat core for pollen, charcoal, peat humification, plant macrofossils and testate amoebae with dating using radiocarbon have shown that climate appears to have been a dominant control on vegetation. There is strong evidence for a reduced precipitation–evapotranspiration ratio and high fire frequency during the Holocene thermal maximum (6.9–5.3 ka BP), leading to dominance of Betula–Pinus forests. By contrast subsequent climatic cooling led to the expansion of broadleaved forests and establishment of Picea. Human activities influenced vegetation from the Neolithic onwards but played a role which was secondary to climate until the recent past. Over the last century, human impacts considerably increased because of harvesting of broadleaved trees and contributed to the formation of the current mixed coniferous broadleaved forests.

Magnetohydrodynamic thermochemotherapy of malignant tumors with nanopreparations with magnetic resonance monitoring

Intravenous administration of dextran-ferrite sol was used to amplify T2-weighed echo gradient (500/15) scanning MR images with visualization of the invasion margins of tumor cells into healthy tissues, along with macro-and micrometastases, in animals with lymphocytic leukemia and Ehrlich and Lewis carcinomas. Magnetohydrodynamic thermochemotherapy (MTCT) using a cyclophosphamide-containing magnetic fluid (saturation magnetization (Ms) 8.6 kA/m, pH 7.4, ζ + 13 mV) at 46°C for 30 min in an alternating magnetic field (0.88 MHz, 7.2 kA/m, 0.15 kW) with aspiration of necrotic material (ANM) produced regression of P388 tumors of volume ∼110 mm3 in BDF1 mice prior to metastasis by 40%, with an increase in lifetime (ILT) of 310%; in tumors of volume ∼330 mm3 after metastasis and MTCT-ANM with cyclophosphamide pretreatment, ILT was 220%.

Autogenic and allogenic factors affecting development of a floating Sphagnum-dominated peat mat in a karst pond basin

Lateral expansion of floating vegetation mats over the surface of aquatic ecosystems (terrestrialization) is one of the ways of peatland development. This process was commonly studied in kettle-hole lakes, whereas karst ponds have received less attention. We used a suite of palaeoecological analyses at Karstovoe mire (Mordovia, Russia) to reconstruct the formation of a floating Sphagnum-dominated peat mat over the karst pond. The results show that the floating peat mat had covered the central part of the pond by ca. AD 1600. Remains of Scirpus sp. and Calamagrostis sp. in the basal layers indicate that these plants might form a framework on which Sphagnum mosses and sedges were established. The terrestrialization could be triggered by the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ (AD 950–1250) as droughts reduce water levels and allow the pioneering plants to colonize exposed bottom sediments on the margins of lakes. Later, the development of the mire was mainly driven by autogenic factors that could be explained by the relatively stable hydrological regime in freely floating or poorly attached vegetation mats. In the mid 19th century, the surface wetness of the mire started to decline that can be related to both increased human activity associated with fires and to a greater thickness of the mat so that autogenic and allogenic effects were difficult to disentangle. In less than a century after that, the fen transformed to a pioneer raised mire. Our results show complex and context-dependent effect of autogenic and allogenic factors on the development of floating peat mats.

Holocene Dynamics of Vegetation and Ecological Conditions in the Center of the East European Plain

Changes in the vegetation and fire regimes in the central East European Plain during the second half of the Holocene have been reconstructed based on the results of paleobotanical analysis and radiocarbon dating of material from a section of peat deposit in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. It has been shown that birch–pine forests were widespread in the region between 7000 and 5000 yr BP, with the frequency of fires in that period being high (the fire return interval ranged from 10–20 to 100 years). Beginning from 5000 yr BP and to the early 20th century, broadleaf forests were dominant, with the fire return interval increasing to 300–500 years or longer.

Brain Morphometry using MRI in Schizophrenia Patients

Schizophrenia has been the focus of intense neuroimaging research. Although its fundamental pathobiology remains elusive, neuroimaging studies provide evidence of abnormalities of cerebral structure and function in patients with schizophrenia. We used morphometry as a quantitative method for estimation of volume of brain structures. Seventy eight right‐handed subjects aged 18–45 years were exposed to MRI‐examination. Patients were divided into 3 groups: patients with schizophrenia, their relatives and healthy controls. The volumes of interested structures (caudate nucleus, putamen, ventricles, frontal and temporal lobe) were measured using T2‐weighted MR‐images. Correlations between structural differences and functional deficit were evaluated.