Blastocystis is a common enteric protozoan of humans and various species of animals. Culture and microscopic examination of fecal samples is the conventional method for identifying four major forms of Blastocystis (vacuolar, granular, non-vacuolar or cystic). In this article, we compared eight liquid media for cultivation of Blastocystis spp. Study material included fecal samples from clinically healthy pigs. Significant differences in the growth of Blastocystis on individual media were observed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aqueous extract from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi roots (SB) on blood parameters and immune response during an experimental trichinellosis. A total of 60 mice infected with 200 Trichinella spiralis larvae were assigned into two groups. One of them served as a control and the second received SB extract orally from day 5 before infection to day 28 after infection (dpi). Blood was sampled at 7, 14, 21 dpi. Lymphocytes obtained from the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) at 7, 14, 21, and 28 dpi were counted, CD4+ and CD8+ subpopulations were analyzed by flow cytometry, and lymphocyte proliferation was estimated with colorimetric (MTT) assay. The intensity of intestinal and muscle invasion was also studied. SB caused a remarkable elevation of banded neutrophils in the blood at 7 dpi. SB increased ConA-stimulated splenocyte proliferation and CD4+ and CD8+ splenocyte subsets at 14 and 21 dpi, whereas MLN lymphocyte subset stimulation involved only CD4+ at 14 dpi. After administration of SB a downward trend in the number of T. spiralis larvae in the muscle was observed. These results suggest that Scutellaria baicalensis root extract stimu- lates murine cellular immune response during intestinal phase of T. spiralis infection.

Results of the ab initio molecular dynamics calculations of silicon crystals are presented by means of analysis of the velocity autocorrelation function and determination of mean phonon relaxation time. The mean phonon relaxation time is crucial for prediction of the phonon-associated coefficient of thermal conductivity of materials. A clear correlation between the velocity autocorrelation function relaxation time and the coefficient of thermal diffusivity has been found. The analysis of the results obtained has indicated a decrease of the velocity autocorrelation function relaxation time t with increase of temperature. The method proposed may be used to estimate the coefficient of ther-mal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the materials based on silicon and of other wide-bandgap semiconductors. The correlation between kinetic energy fluctuations and relaxation time of the velocity autocorrelation function has been calculated with the relatively high coefficient of determination R2 = 0.9396. The correlation obtained and the corresponding approach substantiate the use of kinetic energy fluctuations for the calculation of values related to heat conductivity in silicon-based semiconductors (coefficients of thermal conductivity and diffusivity).