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Urban surface deposited sediments (USDS) are unique indicators of local pollution that pose a potential threat to the living environment and human health. Ekaterinburg is a highly populated metropolitan area in Russia with rapid urbanization and industrialization activities. In Ekaterinburg's residential areas, about 35, 12, and 16 samples are represented by green zones, roads, driveways, and sidewalks, respectively. The total concentrations of heavy metals was detected using a chemical analyzer inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Zn, Sn, Sb, and Pb have the highest concentrations in the green zone, while V, Fe, Co, and Cu represent the utmost values on roads. Moreover, Mn and Ni are the prevailing metals in the fine sand fraction of driveways along with sidewalks. Broadly, the high pollution in the studied zones is generated by anthropogenic activities and traffic emissions. The potential ecological risk (RI) was observed in high risk (IR > 600), even though the results of all heavy metals reveal no adverse health effects from the considered noncarcinogenic metal for adults and children by different exposure pathways except the children's exposure to Co in case of the dermal contact, where the HI values of Co for children in the studied zones are higher than the proposed level (> 1). In all urban zones, the total carcinogenic risk (TLCR) values are predicted as a high potential inhalation exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This diagnostic study investigates if there is a reproducible and robust blood lipidome profile characteristic for schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder. Key Points: Question: Is there a robust and reproducible blood lipidome profile characteristic of severe mental disorders? Findings: In this diagnostic study including 1552 individuals, significant blood plasma lipidome alterations were identified that reproducibly and accurately separated individuals with schizophrenia from controls in 3 population-distinct cohorts from China, Western Europe, and Russia. Parallel analysis of lipid alterations present in the blood plasma of individuals with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder further revealed a significant transdiagnostic overlap. Meaning: Study results suggest that a shared profile of quantitative plasma lipid alterations is characteristic of population-diverse individuals affected by severe mental disorders. Importance: No clinically applicable diagnostic test exists for severe mental disorders. Lipids harbor potential as disease markers. Objective: To define a reproducible profile of lipid alterations in the blood plasma of patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) independent of demographic and environmental variables and to investigate its specificity in association with other psychiatric disorders, ie, major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BPD). Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a multicohort case-control diagnostic analysis involving plasma samples from psychiatric patients and control individuals collected between July 17, 2009, and May 18, 2018. Study participants were recruited as consecutive and volunteer samples at multiple inpatient and outpatient mental health hospitals in Western Europe (Germany and Austria [DE-AT]), China (CN), and Russia (RU). Individuals with DSM-IV or International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision diagnoses of SCZ, MDD, BPD, or a first psychotic episode, as well as age- and sex-matched healthy controls without a mental health–related diagnosis were included in the study. Samples and data were analyzed from January 2018 to September 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: Plasma lipidome composition was assessed using liquid chromatography coupled with untargeted mass spectrometry. Results: Blood lipid levels were assessed in 980 individuals (mean [SD] age, 36 [13] years; 510 male individuals [52%]) diagnosed with SCZ, BPD, MDD, or those with a first psychotic episode and in 572 controls (mean [SD] age, 34 [13] years; 323 male individuals [56%]). A total of 77 lipids were found to be significantly altered between those with SCZ (n = 436) and controls (n = 478) in all 3 sample cohorts. Alterations were consistent between cohorts (CN and RU: [Pearson correlation] r = 0.75; DE-AT and CN: r = 0.78; DE-AT and RU: r = 0.82; P < 10−38). A lipid-based predictive model separated patients with SCZ from controls with high diagnostic ability (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.86-0.95). Lipidome alterations in BPD and MDD, assessed in 184 and 256 individuals, respectively, were found to be similar to those of SCZ (BPD: r = 0.89; MDD: r = 0.92; P < 10−79). Assessment of detected alterations in individuals with a first psychotic episode, as well as patients with SCZ not receiving medication, demonstrated only limited association with medication restricted to particular lipids. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, SCZ was accompanied by a reproducible profile of plasma lipidome alterations, not associated with symptom severity, medication, and demographic and environmental variables, and largely shared with BPD and MDD. This lipid alteration signature may represent a trait marker of severe psychiatric disorders, indicating its potential to be transformed into a clinically applicable testing procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The development of dairy cattle breeding is impossible without improving the technologies of raising, feeding, and high-quality breeding work. An important role in the development of cattle milk production is played by local breeds of cows, which have a sufficiently high genetic variability necessary for adaptations to future climate changes, consumer demand, and improvement of economically important traits. Low productivity is a crucial factor in the loss of local livestock breeds, as they are replaced by highly productive foreign cross breeds, which makes many countries, for example, Russia, Serbia, etc., dependent on imported breeds. This study investigated the effect of the inclusion of natural dry grits from Fucus vesiculosus and mineral adsorbent from the heat-treated mineral shungite extracted only in Russia in feeding native Suksun breed, and their effect on milk yield, the use of nutrients and nitrogen balance in the diet, and biochemical parameters of the blood. Our research purpose was to study the effect of the inclusion of a combination of phytobiotics in the form of dry Fucus vesiculosus grits (FG) and a mineral adsorbent from the heat-treated mineral shungite (TMS) on milk productivity, nutrient digestibility, and biochemical parameters of the Suksun dairy cows. A total of 80 dry-hardy cows of the Suksun breed were divided into four groups (20 heads each), balanced primarily by breed, age, body weight, body condition score, and indicators of milk yield for the previous lactation. The selected cows were with an average live body weight of 512.0 ± 1.28 kg, BCS 3.0–3.5, and parities of 6250 kg milk. The control group (CON) were fed the basic ration only; the second (TMS), third (FG), and fourth (TMS + FG) groups were fed the basic ration provided by 50 g of the mineral adsorbent from heat-treated shungite, 100 g of Fucus grits (Fucus vesiculosus), 50 g of the mineral adsorbent from heat-treated shungite, and 100 g of dry grits from Fucus vesiculosus, respectively. The total protein content in milk was significantly higher in the group receiving Fucus vesiculosus by 0.05% and the group receiving a combination of mineral adsorbent and Fucus vesiculosus by 0.03%. The percentage of milk fat content recorded the highest significant value in (TMS) group when compared to the control and represented (4.37 vs. 3.95). The group of cows that received (TMS + FG) revealed a significant difference in the digestibility of both ether extract and crude fiber when compared to the control group and represented (54.74 vs. 51.71 and 60.68 vs. 55.15%), respectively. The cows supplemented with a mineral adsorbent or a combination of mineral adsorbent and Fucus vesiculosus revealed a significant difference in the digestibility of ether extract and crude fiber in the group receiving TMS + FG by 3.0% (p < 0.05) and 5.5% (p < 0.05), respectively. The intake of nitrogen with the diet increased in (FG) and (TMS + FG) groups by 11.3 g (p < 0.05) and 13.4 g (p < 0.05) of nitrogen. There was an increase (p < 0.05) in the concentration of rumen ammonia in the control group compared to the other groups. The glucose content of those cows that received FG and TMS + FG combination increased (p < 0.05) by 0.76 mmol/L and 0.90 mmol/l in relation to the control group. The globulin, albumin/globulin ratio, and the level of triglycerides revealed a significant difference between the different experimental groups. In brief, the inclusion of a combination of phytobiotics in the form of dry Fucus vesiculosus grits and a mineral adsorbent from the heat-treated mineral shungite in Suksun dairy cows' diets improved milk composition, digestibility of nutrients, utilization of nitrogen, and did not cause deleterious effects on blood biochemical indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nguyen, O. T. H., Aksenov, I., Phan, N. T., & Sakulyeva, T. (2021). Russia's foreign policy priorities in the Asia‐Pacific region. Journal of Public Affairs, e2745. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2745. The above article, published online on 17 August 2021 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) has been retracted by agreement between the journal's Editor‐in‐Chief, Laura Corazza and Shaista Wasiuzzaman and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following concerns regarding manipulation of the peer review and publishing process. Concerns were originally raised by a third party (1). Further investigation by the publisher has found manipulation of the peer review process, and overlapping text with other publications. The retraction has been agreed because the peer review of the article was compromised and there is unattributed overlap between this article and several other articles (2)(3). Abalkina, A. (2022). Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.13322 Burdzik, T. (2019). Slowly but Surely: Russia's Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics‐and‐comments/columns/asian‐kaleidoscope/slowly‐but‐surely‐russia‐s‐foreign‐policy‐in‐southeast‐asia/?sphrase%5fid=34631795 Rumer, E., Sokolsky, R., Vladicic, A. (2020). Russia in the Asia‐Pacific: Less Than Meets the Eye https://carnegieendowment.org/publications/82614 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollution of floodplain, deltaic and adjacent coastal soils in large fluvial systems, considered an urgent environmental problem, as well as potentially toxic elements in such environments, can negatively affect aquatic ecosystems, as well as pose significant risks to human health. This paper is devoted to the geochemistry of potentially toxic elements in soils of the Lower Don basin, which is one of the largest and most anthropogenically transformed water bodies in Southern Russia, as well as the adjacent areas of the Taganrog Bay coast. The median element concentrations in the soils of the study area were consistent with the world soil average and the contents of elements in background soils. Comparative assessment of the spatial distributions as well as the results of Pearson's correlations, cluster analysis and principal component analysis showed that Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn are predominantly of natural origin; Mn and As are of mixed sources; and Cd and Pb are predominantly of anthropogenic origin. The geochemical anomalies of elements were associated with the impact of local anthropogenic sources. Geochemical background values for Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb in the soils of the Lower Don and the Taganrog Bay coast determined using the 'median + 2 median absolute deviations' approach are presented. The highest values of the integrated pollution indices were observed in floodplain soils of small rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern economic infrastructure, Al cables of overhead power transmission lines are used both without and with a steel core (respectively, all aluminum alloy conductor (AAAC) and aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) cables). In this article, the changes in structural, microstructural, and elastic-microplastic properties have been analyzed for the outer wires of the AAAC (A50) and ACSR cables (AC50/8 cables with a steel core of ~8 mm2 cross-section, hereinafter referred to as AC50) with the cross-section of the stranded conductor of ~50 mm2, which were in operation for 0–20 years in the Volgograd region of Russia. Using the techniques of X-ray diffraction, electron backscattered diffraction, densitometry, and the acoustic method, the structural and microstructural features of the wires have been compared and found to be correlated with their elastic-microplastic properties. It has been ascertained that the presence of a steel core in AC50 leads to a decrease in the defectiveness of the near-surface layer of their aluminum wires. Compared with A50 cables, the development of void defects in the near-surface layer of Al-wires of AC50 cables slows down (by ~1 year with a service life of ~10 years and by ~3 years with a service life of ~20 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks to analyze the use of the Karelian language on the internet and especially on social media platforms. The study is based on a survey carried out among Karelian speakers at the end of 2021. The survey was implemented in the Karelian language and received 161 responses, mostly from Finland, but also from Russia and other countries. The survey consists of questions related to the use of Karelian in daily life and online. The benefits, challenges, and needs related to the use of Karelian online are also explored. The results show that 40% of the respondents use the Karelian language online on a daily basis. Karelian is visible on all of the popular social media platforms, with the most popular being Facebook and Instagram, although the use of TikTok is still rare. However, it is considered that popular social media platforms would benefit from more content in Karelian, in order to support the visibility and revitalization of the Karelian language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals (HM) are among the most hazardous soil pollutants. The intensity of accumulation and distribution of HM in soils directly depends on the ecological conditions of pedogenesis and its buffering properties. At the same time, a significant accumulation of HM in the soil as a result of anthropogenic impacts reduces the buffering capacity of the soil and its resistance to pollution. The purpose of this work was to assess the buffering capacity of soils to HM pollution in the Don River delta and the coast of the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov undergoing the great anthropogenic impact. The buffer capacity of experimental soils was carried out using the Il'in's method (1995), based on the calculation of the inactivation ability of soils: organic matter, clay fraction (particle size < 0.01 mm), carbonates, sesquioxides, and pH. The content of HM was compared with soil Clarke and the maximum permissible concentration of HM in soils accepted in the Russian Federation. It was found that the experimental soils could be ordered by buffer capacity value as following (in decreasing order): haplic chernozem = alluvial-meadow light loamy = solonchak > alluvial-meadow sandy and sandy loamy > sandy primitive soil = stratified alluvial soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Men who have sex with men (MSM) have a high risk of lifelong anal cancer caused by high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of anal canal HR HPV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) with and without HIV infection in Moscow (Russia). We evaluated associations of some HIV coinfections (HSV and CMV) and HPV distribution among MSM with and without HIV infection. Methods. Two groups of HIV-positive (n = 60) and HIV-negative (n = 60) MSM were evaluated in the study. Fourteen high-risk (HR) HPV types, HSV1/2, and CMV were investigated in men anal swabs. Results. HR HPVs were found with nearly the same frequency of 66.7% in both groups: HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM. HIV-positive status was statistically associated with the presence of several (more than two) HPV types (p = 0.044). The most prevalent HR HPV genotypes were HPV18, HPV16, HPV56, and HPV33 for HIV-positive MSM and HPV56, HPV51, HPV66, and HPV16 for HIV-negatives. We found a statistically significant association of five HR HPV types with HIV status of MSM: HPV16 (p = 0.028), HPV18 (p = 0.00006), HPV58 (p = 0.003), HPV33 (p = 0.019), and HPV39 (p = 0.026). The frequency of HSV1 (1.7%) and HSV2 (10%) infections and CMV (3.3%) infection was evaluated in the group of HIV-positive MSM. The frequency of HSV1 (5%) and HSV2 (6.7%) infections and CMV (0%) infection was evaluated, as well, in the group of HIV-negative MSM. Conclusion. Multiple HPV genotypes were detected significantly more often than single HPV genotype in the group of HIV-positive MSM. According to our data, 25% of HIV-positive MSM have HPV39; this is the only one of the five types of HR HPV (16, 18, 58, 33, and 39) associated with this group of MSM that has not yet been included in the HPV vaccines available on the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World is the property of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Economic Annals-XXI / Ekonomìčnij Časopis-XXI is the property of Institute of Society Transformation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Obesity is one of the main medical complications around the world. Obesity represents an epidemic: at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being obese. Obesity increases the risk of several diseases such as some types of cancer and type 2 diabetes, raises cardiovascular risk. Drug therapy is used to reduce weight. However, the patient often does not have a significant weight loss after taking the drug for a long period. Then doctors prescribe a new drug. Many weight loss drugs are expensive. Therefore, medical professionals need methods to predict the future outcome of taking a drug. This study proposes a method for predicting the future effect of Weight Loss Therapy (WLT) drug on a patient considering his (her) individual health parameters. We propose a method for developing a Decision Support System (DSS) for medical professionals treating obese patients. The study also solves the practical problem of developing a method for predicting the sibutramine future effect. Sibutramine is often used in medical practice. However, doctors need to know that the patient will have significant weight-loss results. Our method has a high quality of prediction. Therefore, it can be used by medical professionals working with obese patients in Russia and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Recent results of epidemiological and medical statistics studies of lung cancer and indoor radon in different regions of the world make a relevant new combined analysis of residential exposure health effects. In particular, new data were obtained by means of a meta-analysis of case-control studies as well as taking into account a confounding effect of human papillomavirus infection in studies of geographically aggregated data. Materials and methods: Two sources of epidemiological data are considered: (1) studies of ecological design and (2) case-control studies. Ecological studies included the analysis performed for the USA counties and Russian oblasts with adjusting for the main confounders. Data on the case-control studies were gained from the meta-analysis of 31 individual studies with a weighting of obtained odds ratios according to the quality of radon exposure reconstruction and size of the reference group. Estimations of lung cancer excess relative risk (ERR) associated with indoor radon exposure are combined. Results: Two types of epidemiological study design provided generally consistent EER estimations. The combined value of ERR due to radon exposure is 0.14 (90% CI: 0.10–0.18) per 100 Bq/m3. Conclusion: Available geographically aggregated data in regions of Russia and the United States and the meta-analysis of case-control studies conducted in a large number of countries confirm the association of lung cancer with indoor radon exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an imbalance in the normative regulation of the duties of the organizers of sports competitions in Russia. In particular, according to the current legislation, the organizer himself decides whether a medical officer is needed during the competition or whether a medical team is needed. There are several methodological approaches that help to make this decision, but discrepancies in the application of these often mean the absence of a full-fledged team of medical workers at the venue. In neither the current legislation, nor subordinate normative legal acts is there any clearly defined list of duties of organizers of sports competitions. In practice, this complicates the work of organizers and creates uncertainty as to limits of their legal responsibility, including an assessment of their actions in case of harm to life, health or property in the course of carrying out competitions and actions. The requirement for obtaining medical personnel is mandatory for all participants of popular races and marathons. In Russia, more than fifty such events took place in September 2019, and all participants were supposed to provide a medical report upon admission confirming good health. Many participants did not realize this. The organization of medical examinations for such reports is objectively difficult due to the large number of participants (sometimes several tens of thousands). Specialized medical institutions cannot cope with the volume of requests, and nonspecialized ones do not have the necessary specialists and medical equipment. The issue of the organizational control over the state of health of foreigners has not been resolved, the requirements for admission to certain sports in which the state of a potential participant is not threatened by increased physical activity (for example, chess) have not been differentiated. This article presents the results of discussion on the mentioned and some other problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Internal Security is the property of Police Academy in Szczytno and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The effective treatment of chronic lower limb ischemia is one of the most challenging issues confronting vascular surgeons. Current pharmacological therapies play an auxiliary role and cannot prevent disease progression, and new treatment methods are needed. pl- VEGF165, a gene therapy drug, was approved in Russia for the treatment of atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) after clinical studies in 2011. The study drug is an original gene construction in which pl- VEGF165 1.2 mg is the active substance. Objective: This postmarketing surveillance study was undertaken to evaluate the safety (identification of uncommon side effects) and efficacy of gene therapy in patients in routine clinical practice. Methods: In total, 210 patients with stage II-III chronic limb ischemia (according to the Fontaine classification modified by AV Pokrovsky) in 33 healthcare facilities in Russia and the Ukraine were enrolled in the study. The control group ( n = 60) received conservative therapy without prostaglandins and prostacyclins, and the treatment group ( n = 150) received treatment with pl- VEGF165 as two intramuscular injections for a total dose of 2.4 mg. Pain-free walking distance (PWD) (the primary efficacy criterion for Fontaine stages II-III), blood flow linear velocity (BFLV), and ankle-brachial index (ABI) were monitored for 6 months. The safety of pl- VEGF165 gene transfer in terms of the trial protocol was initially evaluated 6 months after the start of the study; adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) were recorded during both routine visits and unscheduled requests for medical care. Results: Overall, PWD increased by 177%, from 100.3 ± 6.9 to 277.1 ± 16.2 m ( p = 0.0001), in the treatment group, whereas the mean value was unchanged in the control group ( p = 0.218). Both BFLV and ABI values increased by 24% ( p = 0.0001) in the treatment group but decreased in the control group. The greatest therapeutic effect was observed for stage III disease: PWD increased by 683% ( p = 0.0001). No angiogenic therapy-related AEs or side effects were recorded, and target limb salvage was 96 and 97% in the treatment and control groups, respectively. The results obtained in this study are not significantly different from those observed in the phase IIb/III registration clinical study completed in 2011. Conclusion: pl- VEGF165 intramuscular gene transfer is an effective treatment for moderate to severe claudication due to chronic lower limb ischemia in routine clinical practice. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02369809. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition and condition of membrane lipids, the morphology of erythrocytes, and hemoglobin distribution were explored with the help of laser interference microscopy (LIM) and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have significant changes in the composition of their phospholipids and the fatty acids of membrane lipids. Furthermore, the microviscosity of the membranes and morphology of the erythrocytes are altered causing disordered oxygen transport by hemoglobin. Basic therapy carried out with the use of antiaggregants, statins, antianginals, beta-blockers, and calcium antagonists does not help to recover the morphofunctional properties of erythrocytes. Based on the results the authors assume that, for the relief of the ischemic crisis and further therapeutic treatment, it is necessary to include, in addition to cardiovascular disease medicines, medication that increases the ability of erythrocytes’ hemoglobin to transport oxygen to the tissues. We assume that the use of LIM and Raman spectroscopy is advisable for early diagnosis of changes in the structure and functional state of erythrocytes when cardiovascular diseases develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-cultural globalization involves "reverse globalization" or the asymmetrical exchange of Western goods, capital and technologies, values, ideas and lifestyles, and simulation of unification (westernization) that mainly affect the material aspects of human existence, while the ethical and moral aspects of life remain quite stable. Socio-cultural globalization is a nonlinear dialectical process. National cultures are in a complex dialectical interaction with the global culture, but the global and the local ones exist as two parallel trends (based on the principle of the reverse movement toward each other). The most effective strategy to respond to the challenges of sociocultural globalization is to develop adaptive abilities of traditional civilization to the new socio-cultural realities and to make a choice between them, giving preference to the latter but using all the best of the former. However, socio-cultural transformations and socio-cultural adaptation have limits. Russian civilization can offer the global world its main principles and experience for a peaceful existence of different cultures and confessions. Attempts to transfer Western culture to the global periphery could result in spiritual consolidation of Eastern Christian and Islamic civilizations. This alliance may become an eastern challenge to Western liberal culture and an exporter of ideas, values, and ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The role of puddle sediments as a final depot of 137Cs horizontal migration within the urban landscape is studied using the example of Ekaterinburg city, Russia. Radioactive contamination in the city appeared due to fallout after atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons and nuclear accidents. Contamination density of 137Cs in the region was assessed from archive data to be about 5.1kBq/m2, of which the maximum activity concentration (<30Bq/kg) is associated with the upper 15cm soil layer. Results of the survey reported here indicate a mean 137Cs activity concentration in puddle sediments of 80Bq/kg, with a maximum value of 540Bq/kg. It is estimated that horizontal migration has led to about a fourfold concentration of 137Cs in puddle sediments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to investigate the genetic history of autochthonous South Siberian populations and to estimate the contribution of distinct patrilineages to their gene pools, we have analyzed 17 Y-chromosomal binary markers (YAP, RPS4Y711, SRY-8299, M89, M201, M52, M170, 12f2, M9, M20, 92R7, SRY-1532, DYS199, M173, M17, Tat, and LLY22 g) in a total sample of 1,358 males from 14 ethnic groups of Siberia (Altaians-Kizhi, Teleuts, Shors, Tuvinians, Todjins, Tofalars, Sojots, Khakassians, Buryats, Evenks), Central/Eastern Asia (Mongolians and Koreans) and Eastern Europe (Kalmyks and Russians). Based on both, the distribution pattern of Y-chromosomal haplogroups and results on AMOVA analysis we observed the statistically significant genetic differentiation between the populations of Baikal and Altai–Sayan regions. We suggest that these regional differences can be best explained by different contribution of Central/Eastern Asian and Eastern European paternal lineages into gene pools of modern South Siberians. The population of the Baikal region demonstrates the prevalence of Central/Eastern Asian lineages, whereas in the populations of Altai and Sayan regions the highest paternal contribution resulted from Eastern European descent is revealed. Yet, our data on Y-chromosome STRs variation demonstrate the clear differences between the South Siberian and Eastern European R1a1-lineages with the evolutionary ages compatible with divergence time between these two regional groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents cases of scalping among the corpus of human skeletal remains excavated from the Iron Age cemetery of Aymyrlyg in Tuva, Siberia. Osteological evidence for scalping in the Old World during prehistory; Results of a reexamination of a south Siberian case from the royal burial in Kurgan 2 at Pazyryk; Importance of the cases presented.

Focuses on the style of theater acting prevalent in six countries. National characteristics depicted actors in portraying human being on the stage; Two types of actors mentioned in the theater history of Russia; Grasping and assimilating qualities of actors.

This article takes an approach to creating a machine learning model for the oil and gas industry. This task is dedicated to the most up-to-date issues of machine learning and artificial intelligence. One of the goals of this research was to build a model to predict the possible risks arising in the process of drilling wells. Drilling of wells for oil and gas production is a highly complex and expensive part of reservoir development. Thus, together with injury prevention, there is a goal to save cost expenditures on downtime and repair of drilling equipment. Nowadays, companies have begun to look for ways to improve the efficiency of drilling and minimize non-production time with the help of new technologies. To support decisions in a narrow time frame, it is valuable to have an early warning system. Such a decision support system will help an engineer to intervene in the drilling process and prevent high expenses of unproductive time and equipment repair due to a problem. This work describes a comparison of machine learning algorithms for anomaly detection during well drilling. In particular, machine learning algorithms will make it possible to make decisions when determining the geometry of the grid of wells—the nature of the relative position of production and injection wells at the production facility. Development systems are most often subdivided into the following: placement of wells along a symmetric grid, and placement of wells along a non-symmetric grid (mainly in rows). The tested models classify drilling problems based on historical data from previously drilled wells. To validate anomaly detection algorithms, we used historical logs of drilling problems for 67 wells at a large brownfield in Siberia, Russia. Wells with problems were selected and analyzed. It should be noted that out of the 67 wells, 20 wells were drilled without expenses for unproductive time. The experiential results illustrate that a model based on gradient boosting can classify the complications in the drilling process better than other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The typical method of radon mapping usually used in most countries is the presenting of average radon concentrations in dwellings for districts or regions. Sometimes the maps of radon concentrations in the soil or maps of percentage above the reference level also demonstrated. Such approach not always can be used for identification of the regions with high probability of radon exposure above the reference levels where the population density is low. The combination of archive geological data and the results of representative radon survey allow estimating the typical parameters of radon concentration distribution for selected categories of buildings (multi-storey or rural type houses) situated in geological zones with the different radon potential. In this case it is possible to give grounds for the necessary level of radon protection measures in the new buildings constructed in this region. The use of such approach in Ural region of Russia is demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article describes an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1) infection in wild birds in Mongolia and on Uvs-Nuur Lake in western Siberia, Russia. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed the presence of type A influenza RNA and the H5 subtype in 10 dead birds belonging to four species, including great crested grebe and spoonbill. The virus may have been brought by the wild birds to Uvs-Nuur Lake from outside the country instead of coming from domestic poultry.

We present results of the studies of internal gravity waves based on altitude-time dependences of the temperature and the density of the neutral component and the velocity of the vertical plasma motion at altitudes of the lower ionosphere (60–130 km). The vertical plasma velocity, which in the specified altitude range is equal to the velocity of the neutral component, the temperature, and the density of the neutral atmosphere are determined by the method of the resonant scattering of radio waves by artificial periodic irregularities (APIs) of the ionosphere plasma. We have developed an API technique and now we are evolving it for studying the ionosphere and the neutral atmosphere using the Sura heating facility (56.1 N; 46.1 E), Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. An advantage of the API technique is the opportunity to determine the parameters of the undisturbed natural environment under a disturbance of the ionosphere by a field of powerful high frequency radio waves. Analysis of altitude-time variations of the neutral temperature, the density, and the vertical plasma velocity allows one to estimate periods of atmospheric waves propagation. Wavelike variations with a period from 5 min to 3 h and more are clearly determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients are becoming more and more involved in clinical decision-making process. Several factors support this process. Advances in omics allows individualization of diagnosis and treatment. Patient awareness and easy availability of data on the Internet allows patients to become informed decision makers when it comes even to disease management. Mass media emphasize the issue of medical errors, making patients demanding for quality in medical care. In some healthcare settings, patents face a problem of interpreting medical data and making decisions on treatment tactics without having a doctor, who could potentially support them. Delegating this task to a Patient Decision Aide system can add automatically generated recommendations to result reports without adding significant workload on the doctors, increase patients’ motivation and support their decisions. We have implemented a patient decision aid system based on the productions rules, which: Collects data from available sources; Automatically analyses and interprets laboratory test results; Recommends running additional tests for a more precise diagnostic; Delivers automatically generated reports to doctors and patients in a natural language. To achieve semantic interoperability with other systems we have implemented a FHIR engine. The knowledge base has been organized as a graph structure. The application is structured as a set of lightly coupled services, which implement the logic of the decision support system. In total, we have modelled 365 nodes of test components, 5084 nodes of inference rules, 49932 connections and 3072 blocks of text for medical certificates. The findings of the research provide a deep understanding of how the semantically interoperable clinical decision support systems are implemented. Advances in notification the patients with the elements of patient decision aid is important for clinical data management, and for patients’ empowerment and protection. We suppose that the system empowering patients in such way can play a meaningful role in helping patients to make informed decisions during the process of diagnostics and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to develop interactive spruce stands map of two model landscapes of the Moscow region, Russia (Istrinsky and Luzgarinsky) considering the foci of insects' mass reproduction. The studies were carried out in 2016, in the Moscow region (Russia). For comparative analysis of spruce forests and stands for the Istrinsky and Luzgarinsky landscape, an interactive map based on Landsat satellite images has been developed, and cartographic data from 1991 to 2016 has been analyzed. The survey was carried out on a model area of 190 hectares in Kurilovo (Moscow region) at an altitude of 300 m using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Ptero-E. The processing of satellite images showed an unequal decrease in forest cover for the spruce forests and stands during 1991-2016, namely from 53% to 44% and from 73% to 70% in the Istrinsky and Luzgarinsky landscape, respectively. The data obtained with the UAV helped to determine the area affected by the bark beetle (Ips typographus), one of the most destructive pests of spruce trees, especially those that are over 70 years old: 3.2 out of 93.6 hectares of the total area of spruce forests. The short-term productivity and conditional inference forests decreased in area by 67% during 1991-2016, while long-term productivity - only by 28%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal combustion used by the Combined heat and power plants (CHPs) generates solid wastes - coal fly ash (CFA). Up to 22% of the total electricity supply in Russian is coal-generated, this value is forecasted to not decrease until 2035, which in the next 14 years will translate into the accumulation of more than 260 Mt of CFA on the CHPs landfills. Following the Government recently presenting a roadmap towards the ramp-up of the CFA utilization from the current 8%–50% by 2035, the highly developed aluminum industry in Russia amidst the lack of its own bauxite sources is currently considering the utilization of CFA as an aluminum oxide-rich raw material for the alumina production. The present review localizes the largest sources of CFA in Russia, summarizes the annual CFA accumulation rates, and its stored volumes, and the chemical composition of the CFA generated in Russia. In this review, the actual acidic methods for alumina production (hydrochloric acid and ammonium bisulfate/sulfuric acid) were considered. Alumina powder obtained by acid methods was analyzed for the quality requirements of the Russian aluminum smelters to forward the case for the CFA's wide adoption as the raw material in both Russia's and worldwide aluminum industry. [Display omitted] • Worldwide practices of the utilization of large volumes of CFA. • Localization of coal-fired power plants in Russia. • Characteristics of the chemical compositions of CFA formed in Russia. • Description of HCl and NH 4 HSO 4 + H 2 SO 4 for alumina production from CFA. • Characterization of alumina samples obtained by acidic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wide application and potential releases of various types of nano-based products without proper care in the environments: the majority of them end up in the soil, directly or through landfills from sludge and other wastes has drawn considerable attention to the public health. The interaction between plants and nanoparticles is a very important aspect for the risk assessment. Therefore, the experiment was conducted on barley by using 300 mg*kg-1 of CuO nanoparticles (particle size 30-50 nm) in the hydroponic and soil medium. Barley has been identified for efficient heavy metals accumulator and recommended to use for bio-testing. The well mixed and ultrasonicated nanoparticle solution was applied in a hydroponic system, and zeta potential was performed to check stability and hydrodynamic sizes of nanoparticles, whereas, nanoparticles spiked to the soil for one month prior to seed sowing. The samples were collected between the boot and head emergence phase of barley growth. Nanoparticles toxicity was observed to slow down the development of barley by changing parameters of leaf shape, size, and colour, root and shoot length in both media. The root and shoot lengths reduced by 29.4% and 11.9% in hydroponic, 5% and 3% in soil grown plants, respectively. The high accumulation of Cu contents in under- and aboveground tissues were determined. It was 3.7 and 7.16 times higher in the hydroponic, 10.3 and 5.2 times higher in the soil-grown plant's root and shoot than the control plants, respectively. The number and lengths of root hairs were also reduced, even disappeared than the control in hydroponic; however, no such symptoms were visual on the soil-grown plant roots. It is expected that the accumulation of Cu in root and shoot tissues may one of the causes for a decline to plant growth. The microscopic observations revealed several changes at the cellular and sub-cellular levels such as a disruption in the cell wall, cell membrane, chloroplast structure, thylakoids, sizes of plastoglobules and starch granules, destructive changes in peroxisomes, swollen mitochondrial cristae, deposition of electronically dense materials near the cell wall, and disturbed vascular bundles. Studying these effects at the inner structural level helps identify the cellular targets and primary impact points of nanoparticles toxicity in plants. The toxic effects of nanoparticles on barley were more pronounced in the hydroponic systems than in the soil. Plants growing in a contaminated medium either in soil or an aquatic system may pose a serious threat to human health via the food chain. Therefore, the results could help to increase the scientific understanding of nanoparticles toxicity to plants and the soil barrier function in the ecosystem. This research was supported in part by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia (project no. 5.948.2017/PP), RFBR no. 18-55-05023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]