PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT

Aim. The paper aims to reveal the features of the central nervous system and interhemispheric asymmetry in volleyball players with hearing impairment. Materials and methods. The study involved 14 athletes of various sports experience with varying degrees of hearing impairment aged from 20 to 35 years (average age 29.20 ± 1.3 years). Simple visual reaction was studied in terms of the reaction time, reaction stability, and functional capabilities of the nervous system. To establish the manual asymmetry, the M. Annette questionnaire and motor tests (dynamometry, tests for intertwined fingers, the applause test) were used, the coefficient of the right hand was calculated. When detecting visual asymmetry, the Rosenbach test and the telescope test were used. The coefficient of the right eye was also calculated. Results. It was established that a third of the examined athletes had a symmetric distribution of signs in both the visual and manual spheres. The reliable dependence between symmetric distribution and sports titles was not found. The reaction time in volleyball players with hearing impairment was reduced. The reaction stability and the level of functional capabilities were within the normal range and had a significant dependence on the sports rank and category. Conclusion. It was revealed that volleyball players with hearing impairment formed a special type of interhemispheric interaction characterized by a more uniform distribution between the right and left hemispheres, which resulted in low values of manual and visual asymmetry.

Passive infusion of Fc-modified neutralizing antibodies does not affect the dynamics of plasma virus decay in SHIV-infected macaques

Passive neutralizing antibody (NAb) infusion leads to a reduction of HIV plasma viremia in infected people as well as in SHIV-infected rhesus macaques. Potential mechanisms of viral reduction include neutralization of free virus as well as Fc-dependent effector functions that can clear infected cells. We generated several Fc variants of the human IgG1 NAb VRC07-523LS and characterized them for neutralization, complement binding, ADCC, phagocytosis, and binding to rhesus FcgR. Based on these assays, we down selected two variants, LALA and DEL, that showed knock-out or increase in ADCC and phagocytosis respectively, with complement binding knocked out in both. The parental, LALA and DEL variants of VRC07-523LS were administered at a single dose of 20 mg/kg i.v. to rhesus macaques chronically infected with SHIV-SF162P3 for 6–14 weeks (n=6 to 10 per group). Animals were followed for rate of plasma virus decay and antibody PK. All groups showed similar characteristics: 1) plasma virus decay was delayed for 24h after NAb infusion 2) the rate of plasma virus decay was the same between day 1 and day 5, and 3) plasma virus decay was independent of FcgRIII genotype. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that serum NAb concentrations in the VRC07-523LS, LALA and DEL groups were maintained at greater than ten-fold excess of the in vitro IC80 against SHIV SF162P3 throughout the period of investigation. Further, unlike VRC07-523LS-LALA, VRC07-523LS-DEL was able to engage natural killer cells and monocytes and mediate both HIV envelope-dependent ADCC and phagocytosis. These results show that the initial impact on plasma viremia by passive NAb therapy is predominantly mediated by virus neutralization rather than ADCC or phagocytosis.

Comparison of microscopy, culture and in-house PCR and NASBA assays for diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Russia

This study aimed to assess the laboratory diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in St. Petersburg, Russia. In total, 334 consecutive symptomatic patients were enrolled. Cervical and urethral specimens from women (n=286) and urethral specimens from men (n=48) were analyzed by microscopy, culture and two in-house NAATs, i.e. polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), developed in Russia. All N. gonorrhoeae-positive samples were confirmed using porA pseudogene and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. All methods displayed 100% specificity, i.e. positive predictive values of 100%. Compared to the PCR (most sensitive method in the present study), in women the sensitivity of both microscopy and culture was 31.8%, and that of NASBA was 90.9%. In men, microscopy, culture and NASBA displayed a sensitivity of 75%, 50% and 100%, respectively. The negative predictive values of microscopy, culture, and NASBA were 97.3%, 97.3%, and 99.6% in women, and 97.8%, 95.7%, and 100% in men, respectively. According to the PCR, the prevalences of N. gonorrhoeae were 4.5% (women) and 8.3% (men). In conclusion, both the investigated Russian NAATs displayed a high sensitivity and specificity. However, in general the diagnosis of gonorrhoea in Russia is suboptimal and crucially requires validation, improvements and quality assurance.